Love At First Punch
by DreamFighter101
Summary: Ippoko was your average teenage girl. One day while being picked on a man named Takamura came to rescue her. After being introduced to the high impact world of Boxing, Ippoko wants to become the strongest in world! But can Ippoko juggle both her career and romance? Fem! Ippo x ?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Her First Step**

On one foggy night outside a small fishing charter shop some fishermen were gearing up for some late night fishing. A woman in front of the shop was trying to lift a generator off the ground then out the back was a girl carrying two big boxes. The girl then looked down at the woman struggling with it.

"Don't worry Mom, I'll get it." Said the girl. The girl was wearing a white t-shirt and jean shorts. And she had long black hair which she kept in a long high ponytail.

"Thanks sweetie." Said her Mom.

Ippoko set the boxes on top of the generator then lifted onto her back like it was nothing. Ippoko caught up to the fishermen on the boat then set the boxes and the generator down, then she help them set off by pushing the boat.

"Bye! Have a nice trip!" She shouted. Ippoko then rubbed her face into her t-shirt from all of hard work and under her shirt you can almost a muscle on her stomach.

The next day Ippoko was in school and day have already ended. Ippoko was about to leave when she overheard some girls talking in the back.

"Hey, who else wants to come to the mall with me? I just saw the cutest pair shoes I just have to have!" Said one girl with glasses.

"I'll come!"

"You can count me in too!"

"Oh, I just remember an outfit I wanna to get there too."

"Hey, Ippoko, want to come with us?"

"Huh? Who, me?" Ippoko said surprised.

"Yeah, it's the new school year so it's only right."

"G-gee that's so nice of you, I would love to-" Then Ippoko remembered that she promised her Mom that she would help her with some reservations.

"What's the matter?" Said one girl with short brown hair.

"You see, my family runs a fishing charter business just me and my Mom and I promised her I would help her out tonight."

"Oh, that's too bad. Well, maybe next time!" Said the girl as she got up and left.

"What's up with her? Is she too stuck up to hang up with us?"

"Nah, I heard her family is so poor she can't even buy socks!"

As Ippoko walked home she couldn't stop thinking about her classmates talking and laughing behind her back. It was true that her family didn't have much money, she couldn't go shopping like any other teenage girl but she couldn't leave Mom all alone with the work. Her Mother needed her and she wasn't going to let her down. Ippoko was brought to reality when someone called out to her.

"Move it! You're in our way!" Said a mean and tough looking girl.

"Oh yes, I'm sorry!" Ippoko said moving out of the way so that a mean girl and her friends could go by. As they went by Ippoko they suddenly stoppped. "Hey, do you girls smell something bad?"

"Yeah, I do smell something bad." Said one of the girls, sniffing.

"It smells like garbage, but where is it coming from?" Said the other one.

 _"Huh? What smell?" Thought Ippoko._

"Oh, now I know where that smell is coming from... IT'S FROM YOU!" Said the first girl as she kicked Ippoko down the grassy hill. Ippoko has been bullied ever since she was a kid, lately a group of delinquent girls have been bullying her and stealing her money but at times like these they like to do it just for fun. Ippoko hated it but could she do, they were a bit bigger, it was three on one, and if she got into a fight she would be in serious trouble plus it would worry and scare her Mom. The girls then took Ippoko under the bridge so no prying eyes would see them so that they would teach her "a lesson".

"Oh wow, Hakunouchi ever heard of a shower?" Said the lead girl.

"Ha! Her family probably too poor to pay the water bill!"

"Yeah what is this anyway? Poop?"

"It's not poop... it's lugworms..." Said Ippoko quietly. She quickly remember she forgot to wash up before she left for school this morning.

"Huh?! You say something?!" The lead girl said pulling Ippoko hair.

"I-I said it's lugworms! I was helping out my Mom at work... " Ippoko answer. But then she was quickly slapped across the face and knocked tothe ground. The slap was so hard it made Ippoko yelled out from under the bridge, somebody was jogging near when they heard the yelled. "Mm? What was that?" Said the jogger, the jogger went down the hill near the bridge to see what was going on. The jogger then spots Ippoko being harass by the three girls.

"Man Hakunouchi, if you stink this bad, then your Mom probably smells a whole lot worse!" Said the main girl as other two laugh behind her. As Ippoko rub her face from slap she heard the insult at her Mother, she then looked up at the bullies giving them dagger eyes. Ippoko was used to insults and beatings but when they talked about her Mom that was going too far, for once she felt angry she couldn't remember the last time she got angry or if she ever got angry.

"Huh? Hey, what's with that look?"

Ippoko then realize she was giving the mean girls a nasty look. "O-oh, I'm..." She stutter.

"Well, looks like you need to learn your place!" Said main girl as she started kicking and punching Ippoko around, her face was covered with cuts, bruises and blood. Ippoko couldn't take much more as she was about to fall over someone caught her from behind.

"Well then, what do we have here?" Said a man when he caught Ippoko from behind. "You okay?"

"H-huh...?' Ippoko said weakly.

"Hey! Mind your own damn business old man!"

The man then sat Ippoko on the ground so she can rest then looked looked at three girls and started to walk to them. "Don't you ladies have something else better to do, like going shopping, talking about boys, braiding each other's hair, seeing who has the bigger breasts or whatever?" He said.

"Ew! What are you? Some kind of pervert?'

"You can say that, or maybe I just hate ugly bitches like you who like to pick on other girls who are cuter than you!"

" _C-Cute...? Me...?"_ Ippoko thought.

"UGLY?! Who you calling ugly, old m-" Before the lead girl could finish the man move quickly past them without batting an eye.

The girls turn to see the man behind them he then stuck his hand holding out some buttons, the girls then felt an odd breeze on they bodies they looked down to see that their blouses were wide open. "Ahhhh!" They yelled out, the buttons in his hand were theirs!

"L-LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" The mean girls ran off embarrass and scared. Ippoko couldn't believe eyes how did that guy that? This strange man was awesome.

"W-Wow, that was amazing Mr. T-thank you... Thank you so much... thank...you..." Ippoko said but she started to faint.

"Hey kid! Are you alright? Hey, say something! KID!"

" _Now then, where did I put that hat?" Said a man with short black spikey hair. "Hey, honey! Have you seen my hat?"_

 _"Ippoko has it, I think she playing outside." Said the man wife._

 _The man walk outside to see has daughter playing in a little cardboard boat._

 _"ALL HANDS ON DECK! WERE ABOUT HEAD INTO A STORM!" Yelled out the little Ippoko wearing her dad's fishing hat._

 _"But Captain, we'll never make it! We have to find a another way around!" Said the Ippoko giving her teddy bear a voice as one of crew members._

 _"We can't! We need to the get fish back to town or everyone will starve!"_

 _"But Captain! What happens if we're attacked by a sea monster!" The Ippoko said giving her stuffed duck a scratchy voice._

 _"Nonsense! There's no such something as sea monsters!" The little girl laugh at the ideal._

 _"Oh, I wouldn't be to sure about that!" Said the man behind Ippoko, picking up her and starting to tickle her. "We sea monsters love eating little girls! Hahahaha!"_

 _"Ha ha ha ha ha! Daddy, cut it out! That tickless!"_

 _"Sorry, couldn't resist!" Said Ippoko's Father. He then put Ippoko down on ground then kneel down to her. "I think you have something of mine kiddo." He said pointed to her head._

 _"Oh, here you are Daddy!" Ippoko said handing over her Father's hat. "Are you going to work again?"_

 _"Afraid so sweetheart, the fish aren't gonna catch themselves."_

 _"Hey Daddy! Can I come with you?" Ask Ippoko._

 _"Huh? You want to come? What brought this on?" Her Father said._

 _"W-well... You're always away on your fishing trip and you're never home... So, maybe I can with you this! I already know how to hook a worm to a line, and I know not to get to close to the deck or I'll slip off. A-a-and-"_

 _"Ippoko." Said her Dad as place his hands on her tiny shoulders and looked to his daughter straight in the eye. "Ippoko listen to me, the ocean is a dangerous place for a child like you. Maybe when you're older I can take you with me, okay?"_

 _"But that not fault! You're never home, you're always way, a-a-and what if something happens to you a-a-a-and..." Ippoko started to tearing up. Her father then pull her in for hug._

 _"Oh Ippoko... I'm sorry." He said "It pains me too, to be away from you and your Mom and sometimes I wish I could take you with me but I know your Mom would probably have a heart attack if she found out. But you point is that somebody needs to stay here and look after her. Can you do that for me?"_

 _"But... I'm so small. I not sure if I can-"_

 _"So? Just be because you're small doesn't mean you can do big things!_

 _"I can do big things?"_

 _"Yup! No matter what Ippoko, never let people tell you what can or can't do. Okay?"_

 _"O-okay daddy."_

 _"Then it's a promise?" Her dad asked._

 _"Yeah, I promise!" Ippoko said hugging her dad back. "I love you Daddy!"_

 _"I love you too, Princess."_

"I promise daddy... I promise... I promise... I promi-" Suddenly a heavy sound awoke Ippoko from her dream. She looked around to see where she was... but she wasn't expecting this!

Everywhere Ippoko looked men were pounding on bags, lifting weights, and hitting each other! "What the...?" She said confusingly and little scared.

"Hey, Takamura! The kid's awake!" Called out a man who sew her wake up.

"Hey, you all right there kid?" Asked Takamura. Ippoko turn around to see a man walk up to her.

"Oh. I think so." She answer. "Where am I?"

"A boxing gym of course. Never seem one?"

"A boxing gym?" Ippoko said. She didn't even know her town had a boxing gym!

"Yeah, we got all kinds first-aid supplies right here." Said Takamura.

Ippoko then notice she had bandages on her face. "Oh, Thank you, thank you so much!" She said, first this man saved her then he patched her up. What a nice guy. "I really appreciate it! Really!"

"That's enough, you're all bandaged sup so run and awake now so just run on home." Takamura said like he was annoyed.

"Huh?" Ippoko said confused.

"I absolutely detest the bullies in this town who pay pick on weak, but what really bothers me is people like you who just let it happen and don't fight back." He said like he was disappointed in her.

Ippoko couldn't believe what she hearing as much as it hurt... It was true. People have been walking all over her and she didn't even do anything to stop them. She wanted to cry she did, but she put her head down started to get up and walk away.

"Sorry to have troubled you..." She apologized while wiping her tears away from her eyes. As she walked by Takamura he couldn't help but feel annoyed and guilty. Sure he hated weak people but what really grinded his gears was seeing girls cry!

"Wait a minute," Takamura said grabbing Ippoko by her collar, he then sat her down on a bench and took out a pen and paper. "If this whole thing is bringing you to tears, then I'll let you do something it'll cheer you right up." He said while drawing on the paper. Then stuck the paper on a punching bag. On the paper was the girl who picking on Ippoko earlier.

"Ta-da! Think of this is that cow and punch it to pieces!" He said pointing at the bag.

"Huh? But that doesn't loo-" Before Ippoko could finish her sentence Takamura gave her a chop on the head. Then put her in a headlock.

"So? I'm no not artist just shut up and do it so you can feel better!" He said looking pretty pissed.

"Yes sir!" She not wanting to get hit again. Ippoko walk up to the bag. "If you insist. Oh, let's see do I do something like this?" Ippoko gave a light punch to the bag. Okay, Takamura couldn't take anymore of this! He then gave Ippoko a kick to the butt. "OW!" She yelled out.

"When you're angry you punch full blast! FULL BLAST!" Takamura shouted while thrusting his arm back and forth.

"R-right!" She said.

Some boxers saw what was going on, they kinda felt sorry for the poor girl the way Takamura was treating her. "Hey Takamura, you think you can take it easy on the girl." said one of guy watching.

"Butt out! This has nothing to do with you." Said Takamura.

"Full blast, full blast." Ippoko murmur to herself. She then ball up her fist then hit the bag with a little force and she was actually able to move the bag.

"Whoa!" Said Takamura who was a little impress. "That's it, That's spirit! Now look over there." Takamura pointed at the bag. The paper was now crumpled up. "Now she really looks like she hurting now." Ippoko did have admit to herself it felt good to hit the bag.

"All right, try to step in hard now!"

"Step in you say?" Ippoko question.

"The moment you step in you lock it down with your hip like that." Takamura said patting his hip. "Also you want to twist your shoulder inward."

"Uh, right." She Said. Ippoko did exactly what Takamura say to do. "Step in, hip shoulder inward!" She copy the same motion Takamura did. "Okay, here we go!" Said winding up her arm as she walked up to the bag. She then took a fighting position to the bag and stared it down. And in an instant she took a hard step and took her hip and shoulder inward and hit the bag as hard as she can against the bag. When her fist hit the bag when back with force of her fist and the piece paper that was on the bag disintegrated.

Ippoko was in awe when the bag went flying back with her punch, not only her but Takamura and some of guys that were watching were shock as well! "Ohhh, it felt great! Did you see that?! Did you see what I did?! I did it just like you told me to!" Ippoko said feeling really proud of herself as she turn around to everyone expression. Something wet hit Takamura face before he rubbed it off to see what it was, it was blood. "I can't believe it! It was unbelievable, can you-" Before she could finish Takamura grad her arm, her was all tear up and bloody. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Come here!" He said dragging her to the back room.

"Whoa, did you see that? The skin came off her hand!" Said one of the guy.

"Like a hard puncher? That chick? No way." Said another one. The men looked at the bag that Ippoko punch. How could one tiny girl do THAT?

In the back Takamura was fixing up Ippoko hand. "Uh, I can do it myself..." She said blushing a little bit.

"Shut up!" He yelled out.

"S-sorry!" She apologize. "Wow, I never realized how solid a sandbag was."

After Takamura was done wrapping up her hand he inspected her body. He then grabbed her arm again and started squeezing it.

"What are you-" Ippoko said. But he didn't stop there, he grabbed the rest of her body! Her hips, her torso, her other arm, and strangely her boobs.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!" She yelled out. "H-hey! What do you think you're doing?!" She said pushing him away while covering herself in case this perv had anymore funny ideas.

"Well what would ya know, you're a whole lot stronger then you look kid." He said. ' _Plus, you have a nice rack to boot.'_ He thought grinning to himself. "So tell me, do you play any kind of sports?"

"Not really." She answer. "I'm way too busy at home to join any teams. You see my family rents out fishing boats so I have to get up early."

"Mm, well you do have a feel for punching anyway. Considering that why don't you give fighting a try so you can just flatten those harpies!" Said Takamura.

"Me?! No way! If I pick a fight with girls, I'll get in trouble!" Said Ippoko frantically.

"Oh come on, what's the harm in getting into a little catfight." He said swinging his fist in the air.

"Besides, with a monster punch like yours I doubt anyone would mess with you."

"You don't understand, I've never been in a fist fight. I'm that kind of person. I'm one that gets bullied like you saw today. That's just who I am..." Ippoko said while hanging her head.

"Well, if you don't do anything about it then everything just stays the same." Said Takamura.

"Huh?"

"Can you honestly be okay with that?"

"No... I'm not okay with that..." She said. He was right, bullies like those would never stop tormenting her and more are sure to come.

Takamura just stared at her, supposing he did feel a little sorry for her. He then looked up at the clock to see what time it was.

"Oh, it's time." He said getting up.

"Where are you going?" Ippoko asked.

"Going to work, got some running to do." Before he left he stared back at Ippoko, who was still hanging her head down. He knew he'd be kicking himself if he didn't do anything to cheer her up.

"Here." He said, placing two video tapes on the table.

"World Title K.O. Collection?" Ippoko said out loud.

"Watch them, it will make you feel a lot better. You can return them anytime." He said leaving out.

Later Ippoko returned home where her Mom was about to help some fishermen.

"I'm home! Sorry I'm late!" Ippoko said running up to her Mom.

"Oh, no problem." Said her Mom. "Ah, Ippoko what happened to you? Where did you get all those nasty injuries?" Her Mom said, concerned.

"Uh, well I..." Ippoko stutter.

"Oh honey, are you making any friends at school? Are you getting bullied?"

Ippoko always did her best to keep her Mom from worrying, but what she hated most was lying to her. "Don't worry about it Mom, I'll get to work right now!" As Ippoko got dressed for work, she back outside to the the fishermen with with their equipment. She went to grab all of their ice boxes in one go.

"Hey there little lady. I'll be careful if I were you, that's some heavy stuff right there." Said one of the fisherman. But she carried them easily.

"Wow, she pretty strong!" Said one of men.

"Now then gentlemen, if you could follow me please." She said casually.

Ippoko and her Mother were helping out the fisherman with their things on the boats and as they departed, Ippoko couldn't help but think about what her Mom said earlier.

 _"I'm sorry, sweetheart. This is a time in your life where you should start making friends, but instead you're helping me. Look, don't worry about it. I can take care by myself."_

 _"No Mom, I'm the one who should be sorry."_ Ippoko thought. The truth is she really did want to punch that girl in her face. Suddenly, Ippoko remembered the video tapes Mr. Takamura gave her. Ippoko hurried back home to watch them, she dashed for her room then took out the tapes from her bag and put them in the V.C.R.

Ippoko couldn't believe what she was seeing, everywhere she look men were hitting each other. Blood and sweat was flying in the air, getting into each other faces before a fight some were celebrating victory some were meeting fans of all different ages to do autographs. " _So, this was the world of boxing."_ Thought Ippoko, in all her life she never would thought she would see something so intense and... Amazing!

"Ahhhh, I'm late! I'm late! I'm gonna be late!" Ippoko said. That morning Ippoko was late for school (Again). As she was running she spotted something in a convenience store window. It was a boxing magazine but next to it was a fashion magazine. She had seen girls at school talk about them before. She had always said when she had enough money she would buy it, but she really wanted the boxing magazine too. Ippoko went in her pocket to see how much she had. It wasn't much but she already decided what she wanted.

At school, the teacher was giving a lecture but as the other students were taking notes, Ippoko was looking at the new magazine she just bought. The world of boxing was so awesome to Ippoko, she wondered why didn't she take an interest in ine sooner. As she turned the next page she saw a familiar face. It was Mr. Takamura in a picture after winning a match. He looked pretty cocky in the picture. Ippoko couldn't help but laugh.

"Miss Makunouchi." Called out the teacher. When she didn't answer, the teacher yelled out. "MISS MAKUNOUCHI!"

"Ah! Y-yes?!" When she heard that time she got right up while still holding her the magazine in her hands. The students all laugh at her.

After class, Ippoko was deep into her magazine. Some boys in back were pretending to do some wrestling moves, but she didn't pay them any attention.

"Man, what's with boys and wrestling? Talk about lame." Said one of girls sitting behind Ippoko.

"Yeah I don't why guys are into that kind of stuff."

"Totally. Wrestling is so stupid. Oh, and don't get me started on boxing!"

"Yeah, so lame."

"Mm-hm."

"Hey! Don't insult boxing like that, okay?!" Ippoko shouted in her defense. "It's a great sport so don't talk about it if you don't know anything about it-" She stopped when the girls looked at her weird. "Uh... S-sorry just a slip of the tongue heh heh..." She quietly sat back down to look at her magazine again.

For the last couple of days Ippoko was deep into boxing, reading about it, watching it, she couldn't get a enough of it. And so Ippoko finally made a decision. She was going to become a boxer!

 **End of chapter 1**

 **Next time: The Art of the Jab**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The Art of the Jab**

The next day, Takamura was out on his daily jog. As he stopped to take a few swigs of water someone spoke to him. "Uh, excuse me? Good Morning." When Takamura turned around to see who it was, he saw it it was the girl he saved before. What was her name? Ippoko or something.

"Oh, hey." Takamura greeted her. "So did you watch the tapes?" He asked.

"Oh yeah! You bet I did! I watched them over and over again!" Ippoko said enthusiastically. "Thank you very much, Mr. Takamura. They were great!"

"Hold on there, how in the world do you know my name?" He said surprisingly.

Ippoko then held up her magazine to show his picture in it. "I got it from this." She said.

"I see."

"You're amazing, they say you're the number one fighter in the pros I'm not surprised. I mean you're so strong. You're awesome!" She said.

"Mm, well of course I'm awesome!" Takamura said arrogantly. "But don't expect any autographs now, come by the gym later and I'll give you one." He said as ran past her to continue his jog.

"Man, I sure wish I could box…" Ippoko said quietly.

Takamura stopped, hearing what she said.

"Well uh, you see… I'd really like to learn the art of boxing." She said shyly, peeking out from behind the magazine.

"You want to learn the art of boxing huh?"

"Well yeah, what I'm saying is I really want to become a boxer."

"Ha ha ha ha!" Takamura laughed out loud. "Wow, I think boxing might be a little to rough for a little girl like you. I think you should do something that's a bit more feminine. Like ballet, or figure skating, or cheerleading." He said as he walked up to her. Sure, Takamura knew that there were some female boxers in the world but this girl was too small. She would be crushed like a bug.

Ippoko then hid behind her magazine again. "Well uh, those do sound interesting and all…" Then she raised up head to tell the man what she really wanted. "I want to be professional boxer. I want to train and become really strong and compete in matches." She said with a smile on her face. Takamura started looking irritated from what he was hearing.

"And you said I had a feel for it-" Before she could finish, Takamura grabbed her arm and began dragging her down the hill they were on then leaned her to a small tree. "What are you-" He then slams his arm against the tree looking Ippoko straight in the eye. Ippoko couldn't help but blush because how close he was.

"Boxing is no play thing!" Takamura said angrily. If Ippoko wasn't girl he would have slugged her right in the face. "Where do you get off making a spur of the moment decision to become a boxer?!"

"It's not a spur of the moment decision, I'm really serious. I want to do it!" Ippoko spoke up.

"Well, think again! This is not some kind world where a little weak girl like you can easily survive! And besides, boxing is a man's sport, not some kind girly tea party!" He said with anger in his voice.

Ippoko then started trembling from what Takamura was saying but then steeled. "I really have given it serious thought, this really is a serious and well thought out decision. I want to become a boxer! I want to become strong, just like you Mr. Takamura! I want to be a new person!" She said with a confident look on her face. "And I know boxing isn't really a girl's sport... but I don't care! It doesn't matter if it's a man's sport or not! I want to do it!" Ippoko then hung her head out of frustration and started to cry. "How does it feel to be so strong... How does it feel to be strong like you...?" Tears flowed from her eyes down to cheek.

Takamura then gave Ippoko a intense look, he could tell by the look in her eyes that she really meant it. "All right then." Takamura then moves to the other side of the tree. Ippoko heard what Takamura had said. And then wiped away her tears to see what Takamura was doing.

"If you want to be like me, then watch closely." He said. Takamura then kicked the tree as hard as he could. Leaves started to fall from it as Takamura took a fighting stance. The leaves slowly fell around him. A moment later, his fists whipped out at the leaves, faster than the eye could follow. Ippoko was amazed how Takamura's hands could move so quickly, but she noticed something... What happen to the leaves that were falling? "Get up here." Takamura said. Ippoko walk up to him to see what he had. He opened up his hands to show what was in them. It was the leaves that were falling down. Ippoko couldn't believe it!

"Now you go ahead and do it."

"What? You want me to that?" She said, shocked.

"If you can do this, then I'll teach you some boxing." Takamura said dropping the leaves into her hand.

"Can I... Really do this...?" Ippoko said. "How could I...?"

"You said you wanted to be like me, didn't you?" Takamura asked.

"Huh?"

"Then you should be able to at least do this much. For starters you should be able to grab ten leaves." He said with a smirk.

"Ten whole leaves?" Ippoko questioned.

"That's right, otherwise you can just give up the idea of becoming a boxer." Takamura said walking off. After that Takamura expected her to complain, saying "I'll a break a nail" or something like that.

"Okay! I'll do it!" Said Ippoko.

 _"Okay, didn't see that one coming."_ Takamura thought.

"I will grab all ten leaves! I'll do it!" She said with confidence in her voice.

"Fine, you got one week!" Takamura yelled out.

"What?! You're only giving me one week?" Ippoko said. Takamura then smirked again. "Why not? I was able to do it without any training." He said, returning to his jog. As Ippoko watched Takamura leave one leaf fell neare her, she caught it, then looked at it.

"Ha! That's not so bad. He just made it look real tricky. Ten shouldn't be so hard." She said smiling to herself. Ippoko then approached the tree and gave it a hard push, causing leaves to fall from it. She then took a fighting position to catch them.

"One leaf!" She said, thrusting her arm to catch one. "Alright, that's one." When she did it again to catch the next one, the first one she caught fell out of her hand. "Uhhhh..." This was gonna be harder than she thought.

As Takamura was continuing his jog he thought to himself. " _There's no way she can grab_ _ten leaves._ " He started thinking back to the other day when he bought her to the gym. " _I gotta say though, I was impressed by the way how powerful her punches were. Also, she is kinda cute, maybe she can work as a Ring girl. She's got the right body for it, heh heh heh..._ " He began to picture Ippoko wearing a skimpy ring girl outfit... Takamura then smacked himself to clear away the dirty thought. " _Arghhh! Snap of out it man! Anyway, she's not the type to become a boxer. It would be all for the best if she gave up this crazy idea._ "

Back at the tree, Ippoko was still trying to catch the second leaf. But each time the first leaf she caught kept falling out of her hand. "Not again..." She said, Ippoko then gave the tree another punch. "One leaf, two leaves! One leaf, two leaves! One leaf, two leaves!" But the first leaf still fell out of her hand. "Arg!" She groaned, she pushed the tree again to try again but no matter what she did, she couldn't catch the second leaf! Not without dropping the first leaf. Ippoko then fell back against the tree, out of breath. "I... Just can't catch the second leaf... This was a lot harder then I thought... Grh!" Then Ippoko realized something. She was late for school.

Back at home, Ippoko rushed through for the door to get ready for school. "I'm home!" She called out to her Mom who was in the kitchen.

"Good morning dear, where have you been?" Ask her Mom. "Breakfast is-" When she came out she already saw her daughter scarfing down her food. "Oh you're already eating. Sweetheart please don't eat so fast. You're a girl, remember?"

"Gotta go now!" Ippoko said rushing to her room to get dressed. "Bye, love you!"

In class, Ippoko was thinking on how to catch the second leaf. "Just how? How do I catch the second leaf?" She murmured to herself. She looked down at her pencil in her hand, then took another pencil and tossed it in the air to attempt to catch it just like the leaves. At the moment, a large clank could be heard. The teacher looked behind him to see where it came frm. Somehow Ippoko's pencil case was on the floor.

"What are you doing, Miss Makunouchi?" Asdk her teacher.

"Uh, sorry about that."

Later that night, Ippoko was back at the tree to complete the task Takamura had given her to catch the leaves. "Okay, I've almost got it." She said. It looked like she almost has it. "Just a few tweaks and I have to make the snap sharper, and just at the rightd moment I have to grab the leaf to pull it in as fast as I can. Sharply and quickly."

Ippoko practiced every day and night and when she wasn't practicing, she was helping her Mom at at the shop, and when she wasn't helping her Mom, she was at school secretly practicing. She work, she practiced, she went to school, she ate, and she repeated the same thing over and over again. Ippoko didn't pay any attention to the girls who were bullying her. Then one night when she was practicing, it happened. "Ah!" Ippoko looked inside the palm of her hand and she had finally caught the second leaf! Without dropping the first leaf!

"That's it! One step forward at last!" She said with glee in her voice. Ippoko sat down on the ground to take a break. "I did... I did..."

The next morning, Ippoko return home. "I'm home! Mom?" Ippoko called out to her Mom, but she didn't answer she called out again. "Mom?" As she was looking around to see where her Mom went, she noticed the chalkboard that they use to keep track of the reservations. "Oh no, I forgot we had reservation this morning..." She said sadly. How could she forget it? When she went to the dining room, Ippoko's Mom had already put out her breakfast.

"Oh, Mom I'm so sorry..." As she pulled off the cover Ippoko noticed a note in an envelope. The tore it open to read it.

 _"Dear Ippoko, I'm not sure what's got you so excited lately, but it's good to see you so happy and lively. I think it's wonderful. Don't worry about the fishing business. I'm still young enough to handle it so don't worry about it. Just have fun and do you best. Love Mom."_

After reading the note, Ippoko didn't know what to say. "Oh, Mom..." She said. She then put the note down and started to eat. "Yeah, Mom's cooking is totally the best."

That night Ippoko was back to practice trying to catch the other leavea, but every time she did couldn't them in reach time. "Is five really my limit, have I hit the wall? When the morning comes my time is up rats!" She said to herself before she gave the tree a hard push to do it again. "One, two, three, four, arghhh!" Ippoko groan.

The next morning finally came and Ippoko was covered in sweat from head to toe and she couldn't do it.

"I just can't do it and no amount of practicing seems to helping. Maybe I'm not really cut out for this... Maybe I can't be a new person." She said, despondent. " _What's wrong with me!? Telling myself to give up... I'm the one who made the commitment to do this!"_ Ippoko then hit the tree out of anger. Just what was she doing wrong? Ippoko was doing the exact same motion as Mr. Takamura was doing... The exact same motion as Mr. Takamura... thinking back on it, Ippoko then realize something. A sound.

" _That sound, it totally sounds different. The speed of the punches must be different._ " She thought. "I need to make that sound." Ippoko thrusted her arm out to see if she could replicate the sound but she couldn't.. "I just can't do this at all. But Mr. Takamura was doing it so easily." And then it came to her. It was the way he positioned his hand at first. He loosened his fingers at first, but when his fist struck the air he closed it at the right moment.

"Lightly." Ippoko said. She loosened her fingers before she thrusted her fist through the air, clenching her fist tightly at the right moment. To her amazement, she found that she made the exact same sound Mr. Takamura made! Ippoko couldn't believe it. Just to make sure she was doing it right, she did the exact motion again, and again, and again, and again!

"Yes! That's the sound!"

Later on, Takamura was out on his jog when he noticed someone sitting on the ground. It was that Ippoko girl.

"Hey there kid, what the heck are doing there?" Takamura said. What, was she waiting here all day for him?

"I'm been waiting for you Mr. Takamura." Ippoko said.

"You're been waiting for me? What, you need something for me?" He said, confused.

"Oh come on. One week's gone by, today's the big day!"

Oh yeah. Takamura had forgotten about that. "Oh, yeah. I didn't think you where serious about all this boxing stuff."

"But you promised we'd do this." She said weakly. "So could you come here and check this out?" Ippoko got up from the ground then walked over to the tree. Once at the tree she put her hand on it to catch her breath.

"I'm so exhausted I can only do it once. So, please watch me carefully."

Ippoko then back away from the tree and pushed it with her back. The leaves fell around her. She then took her fighting position. Takamura watched Ippoko closely soon seeing her loosen her fingers.

" _Wait, did she already figure it out?_ " Thought Takamura. Then Ippoko reached for the first leaf, then the second leaf, then third leaf, then fourth one, then the fifth, then the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, then tenth!

Ippoko breathed heavy after that performance. Just to make surem she looked inside her hand to see and... Her face lit up with joy. She did it! She caught all ten leaves! "I did it! Yahoo! I did it, I did it, I did it!" She shouted, running up to show Takamura the leaves. "See? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten!" She said, counting the leaves. "To tell you truth, I didn't really think I could do it! Yayyyy! I did it! I did it! I did it!" She yelled out celebrating her accomplishment while throwing the leafs up in air like confetti.

"I can believe it. The kid manage to pull it off." Takamura said, astonished.

"So I passed the first big test, now I can learn how to fight!" She said. "I understand, when I touch the leaf, I give a quick snap of my wrist and pull it in. I keep my fists loose until the moment of contact. If I clench my fists to too tightly that'll slow me down. I can't afford to be slow, that's the secret of making it work right?"

"Uh, well, yeah..."

"Yeahhh!"

"Well, I gotta admit kid, I'm impressed you managed to pull it off." Takamura said. "Those are some pretty nice jabs."

"Jabs?" She said, so that's what they're called. "Jab, jab, jab, jab, jab!" Ippoko kept on doing jabs in the air for fun.

"This kid's amazing. I'd meant for her to grab ten leaves with both arms." Takamura thought. " _But she did it with just her left hand. She may be kinda weird and a girl for that matter, but she could grow up to be a pretty interesting boxer."_

"Hey!" Takamura called out, holding up his hand. "Hit it there!" He said, asking her to hit his hand.

Ippoko then looked at his hand for a moment before she understood. She repeatedly did the jabs into his hand.

"That's it, that's good punching!" He said.

"Thanks! I love it! I'm gonna box!" She said, enthusiastically. Ippoko's jabs became a lot harder and faster.

"Whoa there, take it easy!" Takamura said, telling her to stop, but Ippoko didn't listen. Her jabs kept on coming. Takamura soon got annoyed. "I SAID STOP!" He shouted, giving her a chop on the head.

"OW!" She yelled out. "S-sorry... So, are you teaching me how to box?" Ippoko asked.

"Well, yeah. A deals a deal isn't it? Of course I'm gonna teach you some boxing!"

"Oh! Thank you so much, Mr. Takamura!" She said, giving him a big hug. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

Takamura blushed a little bit. "Well, uh... Of course you should be thanking me! You should feel honored for me taking you in. Now could you please let go of me?"

Ippoko noticed she was still hugging him. She blushed then let go of him. "Whoops. S-sorry..."

Later on that night Ippoko was doing some working out, Takamura gave her a training regiment and told her: " _I'm giving you one month. I want you to work on your back and leg muscles. And one more thing, Ippoko. Remember you're about to enter a sport that not many women participate in. So some people will ridicule and give you a hard time about it just because you're a girl. Got that?"_

Ippoko thought long and hard about what Mr. Takamura had said, but she wasn't stopping now.

The next day after school, Ippoko went to the gym to start her training. "Okay ladies,d listen up!" Takamura announce to all the guys in the gym. "I want you meet somebody. Her name is Ippoko Makunouchi and she's starting training here today!"

"Hello! It's nice to meet you, sirs!" She said introducing herself.

The guys in the gym were bit surprised to see Ippoko. They'd heard Takamura was bringing in a newcomer but they were not expecting a girl! Some of the men even recognized her from before. Then out the back came a small old man who wanted to see what was all the commotion was about. He saw Takamura and the young girl standing beside him as she greeted everyone. After a moment, Ippoko turned to see Genji Kamogawa, the owner of the gym and a coach. "It's nice meet you too sir!" She said to him giving him the sweetest smile she could give him.

"Huh?" Said Kamogawa, so the newcomer Takamura brought... Was a girl?!

"Oh hey, look at that. That must be her" Said Yagi, standing next to him.

"Hey old man!" Takamura called out to him. "I was hoping you were here!"

Kamogawa marched over to were Takamura and Ippoko were standing. "This is Ippoko, she's gonna start training here- ACK!" Before he could finish, Kamogawa yank Takamura by the neck with his cane and started to drag him away. "Hey! What are you trying to do!? Give a guy a neck ache?!" Shouted Takamura, struggling for air. "Shut up!" Kamogawa said dragging him to the back room. Ippoko couldn't help but worry. Was Mr. Takamura in trouble?

"What's the matter with you, Takamura?" Kamogawa yelled at him. "You said you recruited somebody who could turn pro!" He then looked out the crack of the door to get another look at Ippoko. "But instead, you bring me a little girl who looks like she's ready for a day at the spa! I don't see an ounce of fighting spirit in her!"

"Me neither!"

"Are you a moron?! Do you have some bizarre delusion that that kid can really become a pro?! Do you really think she can be a real contender?! Especially since she's a- a- a-"

"A girl?" Takamura finish his sentence.

"Yeah, that!"

"Look, you can yell at me all you want, but that kid has some real potential." Takamura said looking back at her still greeting everyone in the gym.

"I can't believe this, she's too polite and cheerful! The next thing you know she'll want to paint the gym pink or something!" Kamogawa said, fearing for his gym. He didn't want it to become some kind of girly doll house!

"Okay then, let's put her to the test. Have her spar with someone for a few rounds!" Said Takamura, trying to prove the old man was wrong about her.

"Well since you're so confident, let's put her up against Miyata."

"Are you serious?!" Takamura protested. "She's got no experience!"

"You should know that boxing is no game. You can lose your life if you make one little mistake. If she can't keep up, it would really be in her own best interest to get out before she gets hurt."

Later, Takamura took Ippoko to the locker room and told her she was going to be sparring someone. "Sparring?" She question.

"Right sparring, it just means a practice match." He explain.

"Oh, I get! A match, of course!"

"Yeah, that's right and you're gonna be doing it."

Then it came to her. "Wait, what?! Please tell me you're joking! There's no way out of this?!"

If only he was. "Backing out is not a option, no one says you have to win!" He yelled out. "Just show them how great your potential is and you'll be fine!"

"Just show then how great I am? Is that all?" Ippoko said with worry in her voice.

"You have no choice but to box! Or do you want to run home to Mama?"

Ippoko was bit shocked at Takamura's comment. She thought about it for a while. aybe this sparring thing wouldn't be so bad right? "Here!" Takamura said handing her a pair of boxing gloves.

" _I have no choice now! I have to do this, I can't go home now!"_ She thought taking the gloves.

"By the way, there's also a tank top and sweats that you could use. They might fit you."

"Oh uh, thank you. But why?"

"You really can't fight in your school uniform when in the ring now can you." Takamura said looking up and down at what Ippoko was wearing. "Unless you prefer to box in your underwear... That's fine by me." He said with goofy smile.

Ippoko's face went completely red from that gesture. "Um, ah, I, d-don't... DON'T SAY PERVERTED THINGS LIKE THAT!" She screamed at him.

"Ahhhhhh!" Takamura rushed out while closing door behind him when she yelled at him. "Gee, can't she take a joke?"

A couple of minutes later Ippoko came out wearing a white tank top and light blue sweat pants alongside the red boxing gloves she had on her hands. "H-how do I look?" She said shyly.

"Mm? Huh, you don't look too bad." Takamura said. "But we can worry about your fashion later, come on!" He said pushing her to the ring so she could meet her opponent. When they got to the ring Kamogawa and Yagi were waiting for them.

"So where's Miyata?" Takamura asked.

"There." Kamogawa pointed behind him, in the ring was a boy doing expert looking practice punches, looking ready for a fight. "Miyata are you ready?

Miyata then looked over to see who his opponent is. "Hey old man. You didn't say I was sparring with a girl."

"That's right, and I don't want you to go easy on her." Said Kamogawa.

"Don't worry, I wasn't planing on it." He said with a smirk.

Ippoko gulped .

"Now this thing is going to get interesting." Said Takamura.

Ippoko looked at Miyata with wide eyes. " _Wow, he's looks pretty strong..._ " She thought. When Miyata noticed her looking at him, Ippoko quickly looked away.

"Who is he?" Ippoko asked.

"Ichirou Miyata. He's sixteen just like you. He doesn't have a professional license yet." Takamura said, walking Ippoko to her corner.

"Well, at least we're the same age. And if he's not a pro maybe we're not that different from each other." Ippoko said.

"You guys are totally different, kid! He's had a lot more training than you havee!" Takamura ranted. "The reason he doesn't have a license yet is because you have to be seventeen to get one, but he's on a whole another lever then your average pro."

"Wow..."

"He's legitimate and truly skilled. He can box. He's been trained ever since he little by his father who was a former pro, he's a legend in the world of boxing." Takamura finished.

"So, he's stronger then some professional boxers and well trained?" Ippoko said, sounding a little scared. "What am I going to do against that guy?!"

"Listen, nobody's expecting you win against him. All you have to do is go out there and show them you have some real potential, get in the ring and let him see that you're eager."

"Is this a good idea?" She said. " _Oh! Get a hold of your self Ippoko! So what if he's in a whole another then you are! I already made up my mind to become a boxer, there's no turning back."_ Thought Ippoko getting ready to fight. " _Well, at least he's my age. I might have a little chance. You never know._ "

"Feeling more relaxed are ya?" Takamura asked, lifting the ropes for Ippoko to get in the ring. Ippoko then stepped into the ring to fight Miyata. Miyata was just leaning on ropes like he had nothing else better to do. She couldn't help but admit how cool he looked.

"Listen up!" Called out Kamogawa. "The rules are the same as in real match that means you get four rounds in three knockdowns."

"What's that mean? Three knockdowns?" Ippoko ask Takamura.

"That's just means you'll lose if you fall down three times in one round, now take your mouth guard." Takamura said while a shoving a mouth guard in her mouth. "Ha!" She gag. Then out of nowhere, Takamura gave her a punch to the stomach.

"Oof! Hey, what was that for?!"

"Just checking. Looks like you're done your homework kid. It's only been a month and you've improved a lot! Just persevere and maintain a strong guard in the first round. Don't lower your arms no matter what happens, kid! And if you're still standing up after the first round, I'll give you instructions for the next round too. We'll called it Operation Turtle. It'll be great!" He said while giving a toothy smile.

"Turtle?" Ippoko questioned. "A strong guard and just keep my arms up?" She put up her fists in a guarding position.

"That's right! Now get out there!" Takamura said pushing her in the center of ring.

"Good. Let's go!" said Kamogawa. At the sound of the bell, the sparring began. The bell startled Ippoko a bit. Miyata came at her with a little bounce in his step while keeping a good guard. Ippoko didn't know what to do, was she supposed to attack him or wait for him to attack her first? Or just keep her guard up through the whole round? Whatever she was going to do, do she had to do it fast! Miyata looked like he knew what he was doing.

"Look at her, she looks like a deer in a car's headlights." Kamogawa said, unimpressed.

"Quit looking like an idiot!" Takamura yelled out at Ippoko. "Don't stand there, move around!"

Ippoko was still nervous about how Miyata was looking at her. Just by the look in his eyes, one could tell he didn't care if she was a guy or a girl. He was determined. Just how was she supposed to win against this guy? So she took Takamura advice to move, she ran up to him swinging her arms in air like she was swatting a fly. Miyata dodge her weak attack. Takamura's jaw dropped. He could not believe what he was seeing. Even Miyata didn't know what was happening, was she trying to punch him or give him a high-five?

Ippoko kept throwing her weak punches, and Miyata blocked each one with ease. " _Does she seriously think she can become a boxer?"_ Miyata thought.

"You idiot! What are you doing?!" Takamura yelled out. "Keep your guard! Be a turtle! BE A TURTLE!"

"Huh?" Ippoko forgot about what Takamura said earlier. "Oh right! Act like a turtle!" She put her fists up in front of face to protect herself from any attacks. That was a mistake she'll regret. She might have had her face protected but her stomach was exposed. Miyata took the opportunity and punched her square in the stomach. Ippoko felt like she was kicked by a horse. Soon aefter that he followed up with hook to the face the hook was so hard it knocked Ippoko to the floor. That was one knockdown.

"Come on Ippoko! Get up now!" Takamura yelled out to her.

"So that's it huh." Said Kamogawa looking at his watch he knew she wouldn't last a minute in the ring. Especially against Miyata.

"Oh... What... Happened...?" Ippoko said groaning from the pain. "He hit me in the stomach and..." Ippoko then looked up at Miyata who hadn't broken a sweat. " _This guy is very different than what I thought._ " She thought, just what has Ippoko got herself into?

 **End of chapter 2**

 **Next time: Welcome to the Kamogawa Gym.**

 **Anuthor's note: Hello everyone! Thank you so much for reading my first fanfic! So, I don't know if I'll do the full sparring session with Miyata but if you guys want me to I'll do it. But to let you know I just started the series so I might be forgetting some lines and skip some parts and episodes I'll try my best to focus on the romance element in here as best as I can! Anyway, Thank you guys again for reading my story!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Welcome to the Kamogawa Gym**

Ippoko was struggling to get up after that punch Miyata delivered to her. Who knew he was THAT strong! "Six, seven, eight-" Kamogawa said, counting down but before he could finish, he saw her trying to get back up. Both Miyata and Takamura were shocked that she could get back up from a punch like that. Ippoko was down but she wasn't out yet!

"Well, she's got willpower." Said Kamogawa, a little impressed.

"I'm sure the big guy brought her for some reason." Said Yagi.

"HEY! What was that?! Why did you drop your guard like that?!" Takamura yelled out at Ippoko.

"How was I supposed to know he was going to hit me in the stomach, I couldn't help it!"

"Just keep both gloves up, okay?" Takamura said.

"Hey, what's going on? How come they're using the ring?" Asked Aoki coming out the back with his friend Kimura. "I don't know, Mr. Takamura said he was bringing in someone new." Said Kimura. Aoki and Kimura then took a closer look at the new guy Takamura brought in, but they soon saw that the new guy wasn't a guy at all, it was a girl! "H-hey, Kimura... Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Aoki said with his eyes going wide.

"Y-yeah… Please tell me we're not dreaming." Kimura said.

"Trust me, if we were dreaming don't you think this dream would a little different? If you know what I mean~" Aoki said with a goofy smile.

Back at the ring, Takamura was getting Ippoko ready to go back into the ring. "All right, keep your hands up no matter what and you might survive this round. Keep your guard strong and hang tight!"

"Right!" Said Ippoko.

"Now get the eye of the tiger, and get in there!" Takamura shouted.

The first round continued, and Ippoko kept her guard up like Mr. Takamura advised so Miyata wouldn't get the drop on her again. She came at Miyata slowly but he started doing those bounces again. This time he looked like he was determined to win, he then came at her with some quick jabs. She was able to block them, but for how long?

"That's it! That's the spirit! Float like a butterfly!" Takamura called.

"Hey, big guy! What's the big idea? How come you didn't tell us that new rookie was a girl huh?!" Aoki called out to Takamura.

"Man, if I knew it was a girl. I would have worn my good sweats today." Said Kimura.

"Would you two shut up already?! I'm busy!" Takamura shouted at them.

" _We can see that..."_ They thought in unison. Back in the ring, Ippoko was still keeping up her guard against Miyata's harsh attacks. " _I see, she does whatever Takamura tells her to do."_ Miyata thought, he then stopped his jabs and punched her straight in her stomach again.

"Agh!" She groaned.

"Watch out, Ippoko!" Takamura called out to her. But he was too late, Miyata delivered another hook to her face and knocked her down. That made two knockdowns.

"Wow, that Miyata is really something." Said Kimura.

"Yeah, the kid's like clock work." Said Aoki. "But still, don't you think he should take it easy on her? I mean she is a girl after all."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Come on, Ippoko!" Takamura called out to her, pounding down on the ring. "Get up!"

Ippoko was trying to listen to what Takamura was saying to her, but she was too dazed to hear him. " _I'm trying Mr. Takamura... But he's too strong."_ She thought.

"Huh. So I'm guessing that's it." Said Kamogawa, and here he thought that little girl had a shot. Oh well.

"WHAT'S THE DEAL!? DON'T YOU WANT TO BECOME A BOXER?!" Takamura shouted at her. "SO I'M GUESSING YOU'RE GIVING UP, HUH!? WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL THAT COMMITMENT!? WHAT HAPPENED TO THE DRIVE THAT MADE YOU CATCH THOSE LEAVES!?"

Ippoko heard what Mr. Takamura was saying to her. He was right. After all that hard training, how could she give up now?! Ippoko bega struggling to get up. It hurt, but she knew what she was getting into. She wasn't giving up. he wasn't going to lose. She was going to endure this pain and win!

Miyata, who had gone to the ropes, looked behind him to see Ippoko getting right back up. He was shocked. " _Man, she's a stubborn one._ "

Kamogawa was surprised too.

"That's... Right..." Ippoko said with some strain in her voice. "I'm... Going... To become... A boxer!" She shouted looking at Miyata straight in the eye with determination.

"Hey, check it out! The kid got right back up!" Said Aoki, impressed.

"Yeah, you got to admit that she doesn't go down easy." Kimura said agreeing with his friend.

"All riiight, you feeling better now?!" Takamura yelled out to Ippoko. "Listen up! Your career's gonna die right here, unless you win, got it?" From the other side of the ring, Kamogawa watched closely. It had been a while since he'd seen someone with that much willpower. And the way she was taking Miyata punches was amazing. Most guys would stay down after a combo like that. But this girl was different somehow. Maybe Takamura was right.

"ALL RIGHT, LET'S FIGHT!" He shouted.

The match continued. Miyata rushed at Ippoko hoping to end it. " _I'll knock you down one more time, and that will be it."_ He thought, delivering punches to her stomach over and over again. "Come on! You need to protect your whole body!" Takamura shouted at her.

"How- I am- Supposed- to do- that?!" Ippoko stuttered, trying to talk.

"USE SOME FOOTWORK OUT THERE!"

Ippoko attempted to do what Takamura said but ended up doing the complete opposite. She ran. As if she were running away from a mouse, Miyata couldn't help but chuckle a little bit at the way she was running. And he wasn't the only one, Aoki and Kimura were laughing their butts off too!

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Takamura shouted out, he couldn't believe what he was seeing...

"Man! What do you call that? 'A chicken with it's head cut off!'" Joked Aoki.

"No, no man! I thinks it's called 'Help me, Mommy! I'm scared!'" Kid Kimura.

But it was no use. Miyata still caught up to her and continued punching her stomach. " _When she lets her guard down, I'll finish this!"_ Miyata thought.

" _I can't let my guard down!"_ Ippoko thought struggling to takee his punches.

"Wow, Takamura! You sure picked out a weird one didn't you?" Said Aoki.

Takamura ignored what Aoki said. " _Just one more minute to go. Miyata is underestimating Ippoko. He's not even using his dominant right arm. Ippoko just might survive this."_ He thought.

"Man, and here I thought that Miyata was something special. You'd think he'd have more powerful punches then that." Aoki said, poking fun at Miyata's fighting style. Sometimes Aoki had the biggest mouth. Miyata heard that comment and by the look on his face, he was mad. He'll show them how powerful his punches were! "HEY, LOOK OUT!" Takamura called out to warn Ippoko, but before could respond Miyata already delivered a deadly punch to her stomach with his right arm.

"Agggh!" Ippoko groaned loudly from the pain. This time it felt like a bull hit her. Miyata smirked to himself thinking he finally got her. "Oh no! It's all over!" Takamura said in agony. Ippoko felt like she was going to throw up it hurt so bad! But still she wasn't giving up here. Ippoko yelled out to dull the pain, then ran to the other side of the ring as fast as she could.

"What?!" Miyata shouted, shocked. Takamura, Aoki, Kimura, Kamogawa, and Yagi were all stunned! Even after a punch like that she should have gone down, but she's still standing. On the other side of the ring, Ippoko was gasping for air, thinking it was the end for her.

"Whoa, would you look at that! The kid took Miyata's hard right like it was nothing!" Said Aoki, impressed.

Miyata had had just about enough of this girl. Why won't she go down already?! It's about time he finished her off. Miyata rushed over to where Ippoko was and ca me at her with a fist to her face. Ippoko saw Miyata, but she couldn't move in time to dodge it. And she was still in pain from his last attack. Was this the end for her? But before his punch could make contact with her face, the bell rung meaning the first round was over. Miyata's fist stopped just about few inches away from Ippoko's face, if there were just a few more seconds left, he could have ended this. He turned around to go to his corner to rest and wait for the next round.

"Phew, saved by the bell..." Ippoko said, relieved.

"Did you see that? The kid survived the first round with a hand full of tricks!" Said Aoki.

"Yep. You know, for a girl, she's pretty tough." Said Kimura.

"Hey, you did great out there!" Takamura said complementing Ippoko.

"Wow, he's amazing! He started hitting me in the face, then the gut!" Ippoko said, amazed. "Who knew someone my age was that talented!"

"Yeah. I got to admit though, you took his punches like a champ." Said Takamura. "Don't tell me you're used to that kind punishment thanks to the school bullies?"

"Mm, I don't know. I guess so." She said. "Gosh, for practice gloves, they sure do hurt a lot. I still feel a little light headed."

"For someone who just got beat up a lot, you sure do talk a lot."

"Yeah, but I figured out something." Said Ippoko. "It hurts, but at the same time, it doesn't hurt."

"Huh? You telling me you're crazy kid?" Takamura said, confused.

"Let's see, how can I put this..." Ippoko thought for a while. "It wasn't the physical pain that hurt me, it was more like the pain I felt because I wasn't standing up for myself. But no matter how many times I get punched, kicked, or insulted. I'll always get right back up!" She said with a smile.

" _I think she got hit in the head too many times."_ Takamura thought. Just how hard did Miyata hit her? "So, can you still walk? Or are you still woozy?" He asked.

"Uh, yeah. Somehow..." Ippoko said standing up.

"Good, you'll start the second round by going on the offensive." Takamura said.

"What?! But, wouldn't I be incompetent? I'vee never attacked anyone in my life!" She said.

"What? Don't tell me you don't remember!"

"Oh! You mean jab!" Said Ippoko.

"Right. Now listen up, if you want to catch Miyata, quickly slide your feet towards him." Said Takamura. "Right!" She affirmed. "And you remember your range?" He asked.

"My what?"

"You know? The the range when you caught the leaves?"

"Oh, uh, yeah." She answer.

"You cross with left then with your right."

On the other side of the ring, while Miyata was getting ready for the next round, two other guys on his corner were talking about Ippoko. "Wow Miyata, I never thought I'd see the day when a girl would give you so much trouble." Said the first guy.

"Yeah, Miyata. What are you doing out there? Don't tell us you're holding back or something just because she's a girl?" Said the second guy.

"Of course not!" Miyata snapped at them. " _Talk about embarrassing! Of all the people I could have trouble with, it had to be a GIRL?!_ " Miyata thought. " _Oh well, at least the big guy is in her corner. I wonder what ideas he's giving her."_ Miyata turned around as the bell rang for the next round. But as soon as he did, something he saw shocked not only him, but the other boxers that were watching. It was Ippoko and she was taking a new fighting stance. She was in offensive with both of her arms up ready to attack and she had a very determined look on her face.

"Mm, well I wasn't expecting a fighting pose." Said Kamogawa.

Ippoko then started to move towards Miyata. "Okay... Keep my fists at eye level... " She murmured to herself. "Check that out. What is she doing? Talking to herself?" Miyata said.

"Well a least she has a good fighting stance."

"Nah, I think she's bluffing."

" _We'll see."_ Miyata thought. Ippoko moved slowly towards him, then looked down at his feet to see if he was doing that bouncing thing again. " _I'm too far away to grab a leaf."_ She thought. Ippoko still watched his feet vary carefully, "Not yet..." She kept eyeing Miyata feet for some reason, just what was she planing? " _Just a little more..."_

" _Let's see what she's made of._ " He thought. Right at that moment, Miyata then started to bounce again. Now it was Ippoko's chance to strike. She threw a quick jab towards his face. But she didn't hit. Miyata blocked her jab with his glove in the nick of time. You could tell by the look on his face that he wasn't expecting that!

"Whoa, she hit Miyata with a jab!" Said Kamogawa even more impressed.

" _Huh, good jab."_ Thought Miyata. Ipppoko continue throwing her jabs towards him as fast as she could, but he kept on dodging them, and he was fast too.

"Check it out! She actually has Miyata on the run!" Aoki said.

"You're right, she's really good." Kimura said.

" _I got to say, she's pretty fast."_ Miyata thought continuing dodging her jabs. " _And her power is impressive, I'll give her that much. But this has to end."_ Miyata quickly moved to the corner to strike back at her but he was wide open.

"Now! Use your left." Takamura called out.

"Okay!" She said. As Ippoko was about to do a left jab, she suddenly slipped, falling towards Miyata. "Aaaahhhh!" She yelled. Miyata gasped too, then there was a loud thud.

"Uhhhhh..." Ippoko soon noticed that she landed on something hard, but not to hard. It felt like skin and the smell of sweat, she could also hear a heartbeat. Ippoko opened her eyes to see a chest, a pretty muscular chest, causing her to blush a little bit. She then slowly looked up to see she accidentally landed on Miyata! Her face turned cherry red on how close their faces were. Almost like they were about to kiss.

" _Oh no, oh no! What do I do now?!"_ Thought Ippoko, panicking. She thought at any moment Miyata would start punching her again... But he didn't. For some reason he didn't attack her, he just stared her with wide eyes and bushing a little bit.

" _W-W-What are they doing?!_ " Takamura thought. " _This is supposed be a sparring match! Not a mixer!"_

Everyone that was watching wondered what was happening. Ippoko and Miyata were just staring at each other not doing anything. " _Argh, what are you doing?! You should have attacked when she slipped up!"_ Miyata thought, but he couldn't take his eyes off of her face. " _Although... She is kinda cute."_ And he couldn't help but admire how beautiful her grey eyes were too. " _Snap out of it already! You need to do something now!"_ Miyata tried to direct eyes to someplace else, then notice something pressing up against his chest. He looked down to see what it was... And it was Ippoko's boobs pressing up against him! Miyata's nose started to bleed a little bit.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IPPOKO!?" Takamura scream at Ippoko.

Ippoko was brought back to reality when Takamura scream at her. "W-what? R-right! Sorry!" She said getting off of Miyata, but when she tried backing up she fell backwards and tumblled back across the ring like a tumbleweed.

"What the heck? She's good at jabbing, but nothing else?" Said Kamogawa.

Ippoko rubbed her head after that little tumble. "What the heck was that, kid?! I told you to use a heavy punch!" Takamura said, running up to her. "Huh?" She said, confused.

"Come on, don't tell me you forgot about the sandbag?"

Ippoko then remembered that day, the technique that Mr. Takamura showed her. "Let's see, first I step hard. then I twist my hip and shoulder inward." Ippoko said, talking to herself, repeating the steps that she remembered as she approach Miyata.

"Oh man, is she going to keep rambling to herself?" Miyata said.

And in an instant, Ippoko came at Miyata with a flurry of quick jabs. Miyata quickly dodged them. " _Huh, she has some pretty nice jabs. But that doesn't mean I'll let her hit me with them."_ He thought.

"I got to give it to Miyata, he sure is one hell of a boxer." Said Takamura.

"You're right about that." Said Aoki. "But there's one thing I still don't like..."

"Mm? Really? What's that?" Questioned Kimura.

"How come Miyata gets to spar with a cute girl huh?!" Aoki said out of jealousy.

"Yeah, you're right about that." Kimura agreed. "And did you see how they were looking at each other? If I didn't know any better I would say those two are in love~!"

"Ha! Yeah, right!"

Takamura was going to knock these two out if they didn't shut up! Back at the ring, Ippoko was doing jabs at Miyata hoping to hit him. After a while, she started panting.

" _Her arms are probably getting tired."_ Miyata thought still dodging her jabs.

"Wow, she actually has him on the run." Takamura said, while he was putting Aoki in a headlock for being a big mouth.

"My arms... Feel like... Dead weights..." She said, still panting.

"She's getting tired."

"I'm not sure... If I can keep this up..." Ippoko then stopped for a second to her breath.

"Now I got you!" Miyata said, finally getting an opening.

"But I can't stop now!" She said, still continuing to jab him.

"What?!" He said, quickly blocking her jabs. How could she still have this much energy left?

Still throwing jabs at Miyata, she soon backed him up into the ropes. "IPPOKO NOW!" Shouted Takamura, giving her the signal. "Hip, shoulder inward!" She said taking her hip and shoulder inward like she did before. In one punch Ippoko was able to break through Miyata's defense.

"WHAT THE?!" Miyata said in shock.

"I can't believe it, she broke Miyata's defensive stance!" Said Kamogawa in amazement.

"Whoa! She actually did it!" Said Kimura.

"HE'S WIDE OPEN! DO IT NOW!" Takamura shouted to her.

"Here goes nothing!" Ippoko said, throwing a punch at Miyata's face. She was finally going to land a hit on him after all this time. And now she was going to show them all that she can become a boxer! But before her punch could make contact, Miyata quickly dodged it.

"Oh crap," thought Ippoko. Miyata tried to throw a punch at Ippoko's face. hoping to end this, but before it landed, the bell rang, meaning the second round was over. Miyata's fist stopped again just before it could touch Ippoko. Talk about being saved by the bell... Again! They both returned to their corners to rest up and wait for the third and final round.

Kamogawa couldn't help but smile to himself. This girly keeps on surprising him over and over again!

"Hey, you're doing great out there!" Kimura said, complementing Ippoko.

"Yeah, you're really good with your right and left!" Said Aoki.

"W-wow, thanks you guys." Ippoko said in appreciation.

"Don't count yourself lucky just yet." Said Takamura. "Now do you remember what I taught you?"

"Let's see... There's the sliding step, the jab, and always keeping my guard up." She said.

"Good, now you're going to use all of that on Miyata in the final round, got it?"

"Uh, right!" Ippoko said, practicing her jabs.

"I still can't believe it, she was able to survive two rounds against Miyata!" Said Kimura.

"Hey, do you think we'll get to see Miyata use a special on her? Now that would be a sight to see!" Said Aoki.

" _That might be not easy."_ Thought Takamura. " _It's true that Ippoko is making process, but none of her punches have even landed on Miyata. That straight right was a once in a boxing match chance, and if he hadn't dodgeds she could had properly won. And by the looks of things Miyata is all fired up for the next round."_

Back on the other side of the ring, Miyata was preparing. "Man, talk about a exciting match! The new kid is actually giving Miyata a run for his money." Said the first guy.

"Talk about unbelievable. If she's able to beat him, maybe Miyata isn't as powerful as we thought. Plus it would be real funny to see him lose to a girl!" Said the second guy as the other guy started to laugh.

" _Idiots, boxing isn't always about power._ " Miyata thought to himself. " _Timing is key to a boxing match and if you make one mistake..._ " And at the sound of the bell starting the third and final round, Miyata started to do the little bounces in his steps and approached Ippoko. "Keep my guard up, and hit him with a one-two!" Ippoko said, throwing both her fists at him. Miyata quickly avoided but he could feel the power from them. Even Kamogawa could sense their power.

"One, two! One, two! One, two!" Ippoko repeat to herself over and over.

" _Oh, so she's trying to one-two me?"_ He thought, dodging her punches left to right.

"Check it out, she's actually pretty good. You know, for a girl." Said one of the boxers.

"And it looks like Miyata's on the defensive." Said other one.

" _It's not that."_ Takamura thought, not liking what he was seeing." _Miyata has been way too quiet... What's he's planning?"_

Ippoko still kept up her punches on Miyata, hoping to land a hit on him. " _I got to say, she does have some pretty powerful punches."_ Thought Miyata, still dodging her punches and getting in some of his own on her. " _But, there's more then one way to knock out a opponent!_ " Then Miyata came at Ippoko with a hook to her chin. Her head twisted sideways for a moment. Then all of a sudden Ippoko's body dropped like a rock onto the floor. That made one knockdown. Both Aoki and Kimura jaw's dropped. What just happened?! Ippoko's body just started to shake for some reason, but why?

" _So that was his plan all along, huh?_ " Thought Takamura.

"W-w-what's... Going... On..." Ippoko said, trying to move her body. "W-w-why c-can't... I... Move my... Legs..." But it was no use. She couldn't get back up. Was this the end for her?

"What a brilliant punch." Said Kamogawa. "A punch to the chin can causes trauma to the brain that knocks the recipient off balance. That Miyata... He really is something."

Miyata looked down at Ippoko trying to get back up but it was no use, Miyata smirkede to himself then walk away already declaring that he won the match. " _She's still conscious, but after that she won't be able to get up for a while."_ But right about he was about to leave the ring, he suddenly heard pounding. When he turned around to see what it was, what he saw surprised hom For some strange reason Ippoko started hitting her legs to get the feeling back into them. "Come on! Move! Stand up! Why won't you do what I tell you?!" She shouted, hitting them as hard as she could before pulling herself back up. Miyata couldn't believe it.

"Whoa! Look at that, she's getting back up!"

Everybody was in awe at Ippoko's strength. "Amazing! She's actually getting back up!" Takamura said in shock and amazement. "No one should able to get back up from a hit to this chin!" Said Aoki in shock. "Man, she's one tough cookie!"

Ippoko struggled to stay on her feet. She felt like she was going to faint. But she couldn't stop there, she couldn't lose here! "How are you still standing?!" Miyata said trying to figure out how she was doing all of these outlandish feats.

"Left, right... Left right... Left, right..." Ippoko mumbled to herself, trying to hit Miyata. But before she could land a hit, Miyata give her a hard hook right in the face sending her flying across the ring. That made two knockdowns.

"IPPOKO!" Takamura called out to her. Now that was a hard punch.

" _This time, you stay down!"_ Miyata thought, hoping that was the end. But he spoke too soon. Ippoko got up once again. "COME ON!" Takamura shouted to her. Ippoko struggled even more to stand up, but she wanted to go on. She coulde still fight!

" _S-she's insane!"_ Thought Miyata.

"You only have a little time left. Can you keep going?" Asked Takamura.

"Yeah!" Ippoko said. " _I can't give up now! I made a commitment to become a boxer!"_ Ippoko thought. She moved closer to Miyata to finish the fight, throwing her one-two punches again. Miyata continued dodging, but the power emanating from them was as intense as ever. "Wow, she still has some powerful punches after all that." Kamogawa said. Both him and Yagi were amazed by Ippoko's performance. Ippoko tried her best to hit Miyata, but still couldn't. Miyata threw more punches at her face over and over trying to knock her down.

"Aw man, I'm not sure I can watch this anymore!" Said Kimura turning his head away.

"Man, I never saw someone get back up so many times from taking that much punishment before." Said Aoki. "But geez, doesn't that Miyata have principles?!"

" _The only thing that keeps Ippoko going is her drive to become a boxer."_ Thought Takamura. " _But I'm not sure if she can take anymore from Miyata."_

Back at the ring, Miyata threw another hard punch at Ippoko's face. She was ready to fall over, but she was still standing strong. "I won't give up... I will become stronger, I will become a new person! I will become a boxer!" She said, holding herself up with her arms on her legs.

"Amazing! She's still standing through sheer willpower!" Said Kamogawa, stunned.

Miyata just looked at her and her stubbornness. " _Why won't she go down?!_ " He thought. " _Just who does she think she is huh?! I'm already feeling bad enough that I'm hitting a girl, does she think this some kind of joke?!_ " Miyata was getting fed up with her and was ready to end this once and for all!

Ippoko came at him again, throwing punches at him. Miyata dodge them and continued his own onslaught of punches at her. Hitting her as hard as he can. " _Why wouldn't you go down?!_ " Miyata maneged to deliver a hard uppercut to her cheek. After that hit Ippoko was about to fall over. " _Finally got you.._." Miyata thought. But before he could celebrate, Ippoko came right back up, still standing, eve after that uppercut like that. Ippoko was panting, she was tired, she was hurting, but she wasn't giving up!

"I'm... Not... Done... YET!" She said, throwing a jab at him. He quickly dodged it in the nick of time. Miyata had had enough of her! He came at her with more hard brutal punches to her face, one after another. Ippoko took every one of Miyata's punches, still trying to stand. After one punch downward from Miyata, Ippoko's ponytaill came undone, her hair falling all over. For a brief moment Ippoko stared at the floor. Did he do it? Did he get her? Then Ippoko lifted her head again to rush back at Miyata, with her hair draping down and her face covered in bruises she was still going at it.

"I'M NOT DONE!" Ippoko shouted.

"GO DOWN ALREADY!" Shouted Miyata, coming at her.

"IPPOKO, DON'T JUST RUSH IN THERE!" Shouted Takamura. But he was too late. Miyata's fist came in contact with Ippoko's face. Everyone became quiet for a moment, before Ippoko fell backwards. "I... Will never give... Up..." She then hit the floor, out cold. Which meant Miyata won. Miyata was just looking at her when she fell down relieved it was over.

"Hey, Ippoko!" Said Takamura, rushing over to her. He lifted her up moving her hair away from her face to see if she okay. "Yep, she's out like a light." He said. Miyata just kept on looking at her, he then walked out of the ring. Hey, it's not his fault she wouldn't stay down. Takamura just watched Miyata leave, the jerk. The least he could do is to wait for her to wake up, and apologize to her.

"Hey! Somebody get me some water!" Takamura called out.

"Sure thing!" Said someone.

"Hey old man, you were watching that right?" Takamura asked Kamogawa. But then he noticed that both Kamogawa and Yagi were gone. In the back, Kamogawa and Yagi were talking.

"I got to say, she's got a lot grit." Said Yagi.

"Hmph, having a lot of grit won't get you far these days." Said Kamogawa. "It's rare to see females in a male dominated sport. But no matter what people said to them, they were victorious." Then Takamura came bursting out through the door.

"There you are!" He said. "Well? What do you think now? Do you still think she's not cut out for this? Or what?"

"Takamura, I've seen few guys in my time who can put that much in a sparring match of all things. I'll admit, she has some real potential. And even though she's a girl, she isn't afraid to get her face messed up." Kamogawa then turned to face Takamura. "I want her brought here every day, I'll make a real boxer out of her!" He said with a smirk. Takamura couldn't help but smile back at him.

At the washrooms, Miyata was washing up from the sparring match. He overheard a couple of guys talking as they fulled the water bucket.

"Man, Miyata had a rough go, but I never thought he'd use a counter punch on her."

"Yeah, I didn't think he would go that far. Talk about preying the weak, especially towards a girl. What's next? Taking candy from babies?"

" _I wasn't preying on the weak!"_ Miyata thought, staring at his arms, which were covered in bruises. " _She was wearing sixteen ounce boxing gloves like I was, but look at these bruises! All from blocking her punched. I got to say, boxing still excites me!"_ But he did feel a little bad for hitting Ippoko, his father always said to never hit girls. " _Oh well, I really hope she knows what she's getting into…_ "

Back in the ring, Ippoko felt a splash of cold of water on face. "H-huh?" She opened her eyes to see what was going on. "Hey, she's coming to." Said Takamura. Ippoko sat up to see that she was surrounded by the guys in the gym. Soon, realization hit.

"I lost didn't I?" She said. "I lost the match. I made a complete fool of myself, and I lost..." Ippoko hung her head down in shame, now she'll never become a boxer.

"Hey kid! You really showed some grit out there!" Said one of the boxers.

Ippoko looked around to see all the guys giving her compliments.

"You did great out there."

"You were awesome!"

"You know for a girl, you weren't half bad!"

Ippoko couldn't believe it. Even though she lost, they were still praising her on her efforts."Hey, you're coming to train here with us right?" Said Kimura. "I'm Kimura by the way."

"And I'm Aoki. If you need any pointers, I'm your man. And if you need any 'special' training', I can help out you with that-DOH! " Aoki was cut shot when Takamura headbutted him.

"Like she's needs anything 'special' from you!" Takamura said.

"What?! I was just giving the new face some help!"

"Wait... New face?" She said, confused. "I... Passed?"

"That's right! You pass the test!" Takamura said enthusiastically. He then hooked his arm around Ippoko. "Now, let's try this again! Everyone, let me introduce you to the newest face, this is Ippoko Makunouchi!" Ippoko was speechless, she couldn't believe this was happening. Was this for real? Was she in a dream? If it was then she didn't want to wake up. "Hey! Say something!" Takamura said nudging her.

"Oh! R-right." She said. "T-thank you, you guys for accepting me!" Ippoko then looked down. "I was accepted... I can't believe you guys are really accepting me... Thank you so much!" Then tears started flowing down her face. "Thank you... Thank you..."

Back at Ippoko's home, she was sound asleep in her bed. Her Mom checked on her to see if everything was okay. And by the way she was smiling her sleep, she was definitely okay. Her Mom then close the door with a smile on her own, content with knowing her daughter was happy.

 **End of chapter 3**

 **Next time: Shadow Boxing?**

 **Author's note: Hi everyone! Thank you again for reading Love At Punch, I just wanted to clarify something about Ippoko. All the time she wears her hair up in a high ponytail in the back which comes down to her back. Sort of like Haruhi Suzumiya from The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (She only let's it down when she's asleep and washing up). I forgot to mention this earlier, sorry! If you guys are wondering why her hair is so long and if that would get in way training and fighting don't worry, I'm going to explain in a later chapter. So, thanks again for reading this! Oh, and I like to give credit to my sister for helping me editing the chapters! She has her own account with a Fire Emblem story. If you're interested, check out SageofWords. Bye-bye!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Shadow Boxing?**

"Oh boy, today's finally the day!" Ippoko said excitedly, running quickly. Today was the day she was going to start training at the gym. " _I wonder if I'll do it right?"_ Ippoko thought. " _I wonder if training is going to be hard? I hope I don't mess it up, after all I am a klutz… I'll be the only girl there too!"_

While walking by, Aoki and Kimura spotted Ippoko running past them."Hey, check it out! It's the new kid." Said Aoki.

"Let's see… I already have jabbing and straight punches down pat." She said. Ippoko then held up her arms in a fighting stance. She then tried a straight punch in the air, but she accidentally hit a basket of vegetables out of a man's hands.

"Hey! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING MISSY!"

"Erk! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry sir!" Ippoko said frantically while picking up the vegetables.

"Just what is she doing?" Kimura said confused.

"She may be cute, but she's crazy." Said Aoki.

After that little incident, Ippoko finally made her way to Kamogawa gym. "Oh man, I'm so nervous." She said, walking towards the front door. "Okay! I'll do my best!" Ippoko said, ready to take the next step in her life! But suddenly she felt the back of her skirt being flipped up. "Errrkkk!" She shrieked in fear as she turned to see who had done that horrible, perverted thing, and it turned out to be Aoki.

"E-Excuse me! J-Just what are you doing?!"

"Sorry about that, new face. You just look so nervous, I just thought I'd ease you up." He said.

"Well, I didn't ask for a skirt inspection!"

"Really? You didn't know? You always have to wear the right kind of underwear before a big match!" Said Aoki, in shock.

"Uh-huh, who even wears rainbow unicorn panties anymore?" Asked Kimura.

"HUH?!" Ippoko cried out. She didn't know boxers still wore underwear during matches. " _But I like rainbows and unicorns…"_

"Have you been living under a log or something? Everybody who's anybody knows that!" Said Aoki.

"Yeah, all the great boxers know to wear the right kind of underwear." Said Kimura.

"Oh my… I had no idea. Uh…"

"I'm Aoki."

"And I'm Kimura."

"Well Mr. Aoki, Mr. Kimura, I'm sorry I ever doubted you!" She said, bowing to them.

Both Aoki and Kimura looked at Ippoko in disbelief. "Wait she's actually buying it?!" Kimura whispered to Aoki. "Yeah, and you know what that means..." Said Aoki. "She's going to be fun to mess with." They both said, with evil smiles.

"Hi! Good afternoon!" Ippoko said announcing herself as she entered the gym.

"Oh, hello there Ippoko." Said Yagi, greeting her. "I'm the general manager of this facility, I'm Mr. Yagi." He said introducing himself.

"It's nice to meet you Mr. Yagi!" Ippoko said, bowing to him.

"Now before we go over your training regiment, I'd like to ask you few questions if that's okay."

"A few questions? Well I guess could-"

"Now hold it right there Mr. Yagi!" Said Aoki interrupting them. "Ippoko didn't come here to take a boring survey, she came here to train! That's why me and Kimura are going to train her." Aoki said. Then Kimura hooked his arm around hers, leading her to the basement. "Come with us new face." he said.

"Huh… What?" Ippoko said.

"Hey you two!" Yagi called out them.

"You don't have to worry a about a thing Mr. Yagi." Said Kimura.

"Yup, we'll take 'real' good care of her." Said Aoki.

"Just where do you two think you're going?!" Yelled Yagi. He somehow knew this would end in disaster.

"Wow! So, I get the honor to get to train with you two?" Ippoko said curiously.

"You betcha, new face!" Said Aoki.

"You'll learn all the basics from us." Said Kimura.

"This isn't funny!" Called out Yagi again to them.

"I just can't wait to learn more! What are we going to start with?" Asked Ippoko, as they went down the stairs. "Like I said, you really need to start with the basics." Said Kimura. "And lots of running too." Added Aoki. "I see. What about a heavy bag?" She ask.

"A heavy bag? Aren't you cocky." Said Kimura.

"Would you look at that, the new face wants to put on some gloves already!" Said Aoki.

Before they got to the locker room, someone came out of the back. It was Takamura. "Oh hey, Ippoko! You made it!" He said, greeting her. "Oh no…" Kimura said, not happy to see him.

"Oh thank god, you're here!" Yagi said, finally catching up to them. "You need to stop them, they're insisting that they're the ones who are going to train Ippoko!"

"Huh? What?" Takamura said. "Man, you two numskulls are going to give Mr. Yagi an ulcer." He said, walking up to them.

"W-well you see…" Aoki stuttered, trying to come up with a excuse. "We were just…" Said Kimura, trying to do the same thing. "Thanks, you really bailed me out." Said Yagi. thanking Takamura. "No problem, I was doing what's right." Takamura said. "After all, we all know I'm more qualified to teach Ippoko how to box." He said with a proud smile.

"HUUUH?!" They all said in shock. "Wait a minute, you can't be serious?!" Yagi said frantically.

Aoki and Kimura quickly realized what Takamura was trying to pull. "What a dirty trick." Said Kimura. "Yeah, you big gorilla." Said Aoki. Takamura heard that nasty comment, and delivered swift punishment by grabbing them by the their necks and slamming them against the wall, choking them.

"WHAT YOU TWO PENCIL NECKS SAY?!"

"You... You big ape…!" Aoki said gasping for air.

"Yeah… How come you get to train her huh?!" Said Kimura, also struggling to breathe.

"Are you two morons forgetting, I'm the one who found Ippoko?!" Takamura said angrily.

"Yeah… Well, we both know what you're REALLY trying to do here!" Kimura whispered to Takamura.

"Don't try to play dumb, you just want to train her so you can get close to those melons!" Whispered Aoki.

"I have no idea what you two are talking about! Get your minds out of the gutter!" Said Takamura lying through his teeth. Part of Takamura really did want to get up close and personal with Ippoko's girls… But mostly, he really thought he was qualified to train her.

"Aw, quit lying you big perverted ape!" Called out Aoki.

"Who said you had dibs first, huh!?" Yelled out Kimura.

"WHY YOU LITTLES! I'LL TEACH NOT TO TALK BACK TO ME!" Shouted out Takamura as he commenced to beating up Aoki and Kimura. In a matter of seconds, Takamura, Aoki and Kimura start fight over who would train her.

"Hey, you three! Stop it right!" Yelled out Yagi.

"Yeah, you guys! There's no need fight, really!" Ippoko said trying to step in into the arguing to stop them.

"QUIET!" Called out a voice. The guys went silent when they heard it. When they looked to see where it came from, they saw old man Kamogawa standing on top of the stairs. And the look on his face made it apparent that he was not happy. "Now, what are you guys doing?" He asked, coming down the stairs.

"Oh, I was uhh…. Teaching my dear juniors a little lesson." Said Takamura.

"Ha, if any of you knuckleheads were the teachers, any new talent would go down the drain."

"But old man-"

"Yeah? What?" Said Kamogawa, daring Takamura to say something else to him.

"Well, I uhh…." Takamura tried to this of something to say, but he knew by the expression on the old man's face that he'd get an ear full of it regardless.

"~You got in trouble~! ~You got in trouble~!" Both Aoki and Kimura sang, teasing Takamura for getting in trouble. "Grrr, HEY! KNOCK IT OFF!" Takamura shouted out again really to knock out the both of them.

"WOULD YOU DUMB IDIOTS KNOCK IT OFF!" Yelled out Kamogawa. "NOW GET BACK IN THE GYM BEFORE I MAKE YOU SORRY YOU WERE EVER BORN!" He said swinging his cane around at Aoki and Kimura like a mad man. "AND YOU, TAKAMURA! DIDN'T YOU SAY YOU WERE GOING TO DO SOME RUNNING?!" Shouted Kamogawa at Takamura. "Alright!" Said Takamura, not wanting to get hit by old man's cane.

"AND YOU, KID!" Kamogawa said turning his attention to Ippoko who was cowering on the wall not wanting to get hit by his cane neither. "I'M YOUR COACH NOW!"

"WHAT!? I had no idea sir!" She shouted in surprise.

"Yeah? Got a problem?"

"N-No! That's great!"

"THEN GO IN AND CHANGE YOUR CLOTHES!" Ordered Kamogawa.

"Y-YES SIR!"

In the locker room, Ippoko was changing out of her clothes into the gym clothes they gave her as a gift for being a newcomer to the gym. "Oh wow, Mr. Kamogawa is scary." She said. "He really has high standards, so I need to do my best."

A little later, Mr. Kamogawa was observing Ippoko to see how toned and fit she is. "Mmmm, huh. Very nice…" He said squeezing her arms. Ippoko was a bit nervous with him looking all over her.

"Okay before we start, did you already answer Yagi's questionnaire?" He asked.

"Questionnaire?" Ippoko said. "Oh yeah, Mr. Yagi did say he wanted to ask me some questions. But before I could answer them, Mr. Aoki and Mr. Kimura interrupted us." Ippoko said. "Oh I see." Said Kamogawa giving both Aoki and Kimura the stink eye across the the room.

"Why? Is it important that I answer these questions now?" She said. "Oh! Uh… They're not really important right now so you can answer them later." Said Kamogawa. "But uh, there's one important thing…."

"Mm? What is it?" Ippoko asked. "W-well, you see kid… Men and women are built differently so uh..." Kamogawa said, fumbling with his words. "And so uh, a girl such as yourself needs support. You know?"

"Uhh, support? I don't get what you're trying say sir." Ippoko said, confused.

"What I'm trying to say is… Grrrr!" Kamogawa groaned to himself. Damn it, why is this so hard to talk about?! "Uhhh, Mr. Kamogawa is everything okay?" Asked Ippoko in concern, she knew Kanogawa was trying to ask her something but what? "GRRR, LISTEN KID I JUST NEED TO KNOW IF YOU OWN A BRA?!" He yelled out. The entire gym heard him, and turned to stare at him, hardly believing what he just said.

"Er? H-huh…?" Ippoko said, bewildered. Kamogawa noticed all the guys in gym looking at him strange. " _Aw, Crap!"_ He thought. "C-come with me!" Said Kamogawa leading Ippoko to the hallway so they could talk in private. A few minutes later, Kamogawa had explained what he was trying to say to Ippoko.

"A sports bra?" Ippoko questioned.

"Yeah, a sports bra is a special kind of bra that provides support for you know…" Kamogawa stared at Ippoko's boobs for a second. "Your girls…" He turned his head away blushing a little bit. "Oh! So that's what you were trying to say!" Ippoko said finally getting it. "So what does a sports bra look like?" She ask.

"W-well…" Kamogawa said, looking for the proper words. "T-they look like any other old bra, but uh they have a lot more padding and support to keep you in place."

" _A lot more padding and support?_ " Ippoko thought, then it finally came to her. "Oh, I think I know what you're talking about Mr. Kamogawa!" She said. "I'm actually wearing one right now."

"Say what now?" Kamogawa said, confused. "So wait, are you telling me that you been wearing a sports bra all this time, girly?"

"The truth is, I actually feel more comfortable in this one then in any other one I own." She said. "Do you want to see it?" Ippoko said, about to lift up her shirt.

"AHHHH, NO, NO, NO! THAT'S OKAY KID, I BELIEVE YOU!" Kamogawa said in panic. Geez, is she trying to send Kamogawa to jail for sexual harassment? "C-Come on! I want you to put on some gloves in get into the ring, we're going have you punch some mitts."

"What?! You want me to put on gloves so soon?" Ippoko said surprise.

"That's right! So quit gawking and put them on already!" Kamogawa shouted at her.

"Y-yes sir!"

"What? The chief's already starting her out with mitt training?" Said Aoki as him and Kimura were busy stretching. "Yeah man, he's totally skipping the basic steps." Said Kimura. "Uh-huh, the old man knows what he's doing." Said a voice. Both Aoki and Kimura turned around to see where that voice came from, only to see it was Takamura peeking through the door.

"What are you still doing here?" Question Kimura.

"Shhhh! I don't want the old man catching me here." Takamura hissed at Kimura.

"Let's see…" Ippoko said not knowing what to do. "What are you waiting for?" Said Kamogawa impatiently. "Well, uh, I don't know what to exactly to do sir." She said. "All you have to do is to punch the mitt wherever I put it." He said, holding up a mitt. "Well? Get to punching!" "Right!" Not waiting for another moment, Ippoko delivered a powerful punch to the mitt on Kamogawa's hand.

"Wow! That felt great!" Ippoko said with a smile on her face looking at her hand.

"Mmm, pretty good." Kamogawa said. "Now, give me a left." He said holding up the other mitt. And like clockwork Ippoko hit the other the mitt. "Now, give me a right." He held up the other mitt again, and she hit it again. "Good kid, now that's what we call a one-two." Said Kamogawa.

"Oh, okay!"

"Now, give me another right again!" Kamogawa said, and Ippoko did as Kamogawa said. And when he said hit to his left she hit the left mitt. In no time, Ippoko was getting the rhythm down with her one-two's.

"Whoa, look at her go!" Said Aoki.

"Yeah, just look at that tempo." Said Kimura. "She really has powerful punches."

"It's not that." Said Takamura. "The old man's best with these mitts, don't you remember?"

"Oh yeah, they great for hand and eye coordination."

"You get into the groove of things and you build up the confidence."

Back in the ring, Ippoko was still keeping up with Kamogawa with the mitts. She was starting to get pretty tired, how long was she supposed to keep this up? Finally the bell rang, thank god Ippoko thought out of breath.

"Okay let's take a break. Now that was the length of one round." Said Kamogawa. "You need to get used to that, okay?"

"Yes sir." She replied.

"Wow, she's completely worn out." Said Aoki.

"Well, I got to say that's a limit for a newbie." Said Kimura.

"Okay, let's start the second round." Called out Kamogawa after the break was over. "Right!" Ippoko said, ready for the next round. Both Aoki and Kimura were amazed and shocked at how Ippoko regained her energy so quickly. "She's got energy from the get go." Said Kimura, still shocked. Takamura wasn't surprised. He couldn't help but smile to himself. He knew she was cut out for this!

"Huh. And here I thought the big guy was making that noise." Said a voice, Takamura turned to see Miyata coming down the stairs. "You up to something again? You just never learn do you?"

"Ah, perfect timing, Miyata! Your little girlfriend is here!" Kid Takamura. "And it's not what it looks like."

"What are you talking about?" Miyata questioned. "Quit joking around." When Miyata went in, he saw Ippoko training. At first Miyata was a bit surprised to see her here, but he guessed that the old man decided to let her train here. But it didn't matter to him anyway.

Back in the ring, Kamogawa noticed Miyata coming in, then he thought of something.  
"Pretty good kid. If one of those punches have actually hit Miyata, I wonder what would have happened?" He said. Ippoko was bit surprised at Kamogawa's question, not only her but Miyata and Takamura heard it as well.

"But it's a moot point sir, Miyata is just too quick for for me." Ippoko said, continuing her one-twos. "You don't need sound so sheepish girly, I'll have you competitive with him in the next three months!" Kamogawa said with confidence.

"HUH?!" Ippoko said, in shock. Wait, she was going to have fight Miyata again?! Ippoko didn't know whether to faint or to scream, or maybe she could do both? "Please don't talk so loud sir, can't you tell that everyone's listening?... it's really embarrassing… ERK!"

As she spoke, Ippoko looked around at the guys listening in on their conversation, but when she saw the benches, she became both shocked and scared to find Miyata staring at her! Was he listening this whole time? Judging by the look on his face, he was.

Miyata gave Ippoko a cold look then he turned away to start his daily training. Poor Ippoko. "Listen girly, I'm serious. The reason you couldn't connect with him was because you only knew straight punches and how to attack straight down the middle." Kamogawa said, explaining to her what she did wrong.

"You have enough stamina to throw a continuous amount of monstrous punches at your opponent!" As Kamogawa was rambling on, Ippoko was staring back at Miyata, she couldn't help but get a weird pain in her chest. The way he looked at her was almost like he didn't want her there at all. Ippoko didn't want Miyata to hate her. She was really hoping they could become friends.

"Listen, when you go on offense the match boils down to one destructive punch! Simply put, with your advantage, you win!" Kamogawa yelled out at Ippoko snapping her back to reality. "O-oh, yes sir." Ippoko answered him.

"I don't expect dexterity from you, I'm not expecting you to become a quick out-boxer. See?!" Shouted Kamogawa as he brought up the mitt to her chin super quick before she could dodge. "A cute boxer is no good in today's arena! You can beat technique with your strength!" He said. Ippoko didn't know what to say, can she really do what Kamogawa was she could?

"Don't you want to catch up with Miyata? Maybe even try to take him?"

"Of course, I be happy if I could."

There was a bit of silence between them until Kamogawa finally said something. "Are you motivated girly?" Ippoko was a bit surprised by what Kamogawa asked her. "Well? Are ya?!" Ippoko was bit hesitant at first, but of course she was motivated! Of course she wanted to catch up with Miyata, and of course she wanted to fight him again! Ippoko took a deep breath then let it out. "Of course! I'll do it sir!" She said with confidence.

"Hmm." Miyata looked at Ippoko hearing what she just said. It sounded like she was challenging him.

"Ahhh! Miyata! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean it!" She apologized to him fearing for her life. Kamogawa and the other guys couldn't help but fall over after that. What was she apologizing for? Miyata gave her those cold eyes again, then she just turned around and went back to his stretching.

"Oh no, now Miyata's mad at me." Said Ippoko. She was sure he hated her now.

"You're strange one girly, hard to understand. But you'll do one right?" Asked Kamogawa.

"Yes sir! I'll do it!"

"Then you're going to need to learn this punch girly." Kamogawa said, before he came at her with a quick motion with his fist almost touching her chin. "It's called a uppercut." He said smirking.

"Eh… An uppercut…?"

That night Ippoko was back home about to go to sleep. "Wow, punching the mitt sure was fun today!" She said looking at her hand. "And Mr. Takamura and the other guys were sure nice, although they were a bit odd." She said to herself, but she was wondering why Miyata was acting so cold to her. "But Miyata was awfully angry…. Ahhhh!" She yelled out. "I got to get some sleep, I need to work on the uppercut tomorrow!" Ippoko said, finally ready to sleep, but she kept on tossing and turning in her covers for some reason she didn't know why! "Ahhh, I just can't fall asleep!"

The next day at the gym Ippoko was practicing the jump rope, Ippoko remembered that she owned a jump rope when she was little kid. But some neighborhood kids thought it would be real funny to toss her jump rope into the ocean. Heer Mom asked her what happened to it and Ippoko wanted to tell her the truth. But instead she told her she accidently left it at the park and somebody must have picked it up and walked away with it.

Ippoko was a bit rusty at it first but she saw one guy doing it differently then she was. He had both of his feet together and skipped in perfect motion. Ippoko did the exact same thing and she got the gist of it, but then she saw Miyata walking by her. This was her chance to finally talk to him! She just had to play things smooth, what could go wrong? Would she fall flat on her face?

"Oh! Hey Miyat-Ahhhh!" Before Ippoko could finish she tripped on the rope. Miyata turned around when he heard a large thud behind him. He saw Ippoko on the floor with the jump rope tangled around her. Miyata just stare her, then walked away.

" _Real smooth Ippoko, real smooth_." She thought, now Miyata really thinks she's a klutz!

"Hey! What are you doing girly?" Asked Kamogawa. "If you're trying to improve your jump rope technique, you need to work on it some more."

"Yes sir!"

"Now get into the ring, we're working on your uppercuts."

In the ring Kamogawa was showing Ippoko how to do an uppercut. "Okay first off, bend both of the your knees like this." He said.

"Uh, like this?" Ippoko said, taking the same stance as Kamogawa.

"Then you bring your fist to your side like this, and make sure your knuckles face down too. Never forget that!"

"Yes sir!"

"Show him a good one Ippoko." Mumbled Takamura as he and the other guys were watching her. "I see a lot of standing around here!" Barked Kamogawa, telling the guys to get back to training. And on the other side of the room Miyata watched as well, curious to see how Ippoko performed an uppercut.

"Now, stretch your bent knee like this. And use your entire body to build momentum."

"Let's see…" Ippoko said, remembering what Kamogawa told her. "Okay stretch my knees as far as I can, and use my body momentum to thrust my fist as hard as I can." She said, ready to try it out. " _Okay, here we go._ " Ippoko approached Kamogawa to do the the uppercut. Ippoko bend her knees as far as she could, then used her entire body momentum to deliver her fist upwards! But when Ippoko did the upper cut, she missed the mitt completely. Kamogawa, Takamura, and Miyata were all shocked at Ippoko's uppercut but they all saw how much power she put into it.

"Oh man…" Said Kimura.

"She swished the air." Said Aoki.

"Oh… I'm so sorry." Said Ippoko with a embarrassed look on her face.

"This kid… Is unbelievable!" Thought Kamogawa.

Later that day, Takamura, Kimura, and Aoki were out for their jog and talking about what happened today. "Ha ha ha ha! Did you see the look on their faces?!" Takamura said, a big smile on his face. "Both the old man and Miyata were both completely stunned!"

"The kid had a nice form. But I don't get it?" Asked Kimura.

"Yeah, what are you so excited for?" Asked Aoki.

"What do mean why am I excited for?! How long have you two been boxing?! Didn't you see how hard she hit?!" Takamura yelled back at them. "When Ippoko was delivering that uppercut she keep both her of legs, toes, and her arm straight! Someone with weak legs would surely lose, but not Ippoko. She has the ability to deliver monster punches!" Takamura said with a smile still on his face. He couldn't wait for the rematch. "I can't wait for her to debut, and I won't be surprised when she's got a winning streak without a hitch and leaves losers like you guys in the dust!" He kidded to Kimura and Aoki. Finding that offensive both Kimura and Aoki started yelling at Takamura.

The next day at the gym, Mr. Kamogawa was going out to run some errands so he was unable to train Ippoko told her to work on her shadowboxing.

"You said shadow?" Ippoko said, a little confused.

"That's right, I'm going to be out for a while so I want you to work on your shadowboxing." He said. "Take a look over there." Kamogawa pointed to a guy punching the air like he was fighting someone. "I want you to do that while I'm gone, and don't forget to put in some uppercuts in there too. Got it?" Kamogawa said, leaving the gym.

"That's right," Ippoko said. "He isn't going to be by my side forever…" Ippoko knew Mr. Kamogawa wasn't always be around to train her, so she had to do some on her own. Although she was a bit lost being new and all so she decided to ask Mr. Kimura for some advice.

"What's that? You doing shadowboxing now?" He asked.

"Yeah, but I have no idea how to do it."

"Well, it goes something like this." Kimura said taking a fighting stance. He quickly attacked the air in swift movements then his fist stopped right in Ippoko's face. "Wow Mr. Kimura, that was amazing!" Ippoko said, impressed.

"Heh heh, well yeah you know." He said, blushing.

"Nah, that's not good enough." Said Aoki, overhearing their conversation.

"Excuse me?" Said Kimura.

"This is REAL shadow boxing!" Aoki said, showing them what he believed shadowboxing look like. Aoki attacked the air in a strange and weird way. "See? That's how it's done!"

"W-Wow…" Said Ippoko.

"You IDIOT! What are you doing, contaminating the newbie with your crazy technique!" Kimura yelled at Aoki.

"Well why not? My moves are way better than your dull technique. That wouldn't let you win in any real bouts." Aoki said, poking fun at Kimura's fighting style.

"Well considering how YOU tank in your matches I wouldn't talk!" Yelled Kimura.

"Then YOUR record basically stinks up the joint!" Aoki yelled back.

"What did you say?!"

"I said STINKS!"

"Uh hey now… Please don't fight." Ippoko said, trying to stop them from arguing.

"This is REAL shadowboxing!" Said Kimura, his fist attacking the air again.

"No, this IS!" Aoki said, doing the same thing not wanting to be outmatched by Kimura.

But in all the fist flying, both Kimura and Aoki accidentally knocked each other out. Ippoko sighed to herself as she left them in a room to recover. Well they were no help at all. Ippoko went to go sit down to think about how to do shadowboxing. But then she noticed a guy practicing it. " _It doesn't look like he's randomly cutting the air._ " She thought. Ippoko turned her attention to another guy doing the same thing. " _Sparring against somebody…_ " Then it hit her . " _I see! He's visualizing his opponent!_ " So, all that Ippoko had to do was imagine her opponent, so she closed her eyes to try it out. " _Okay, I need to imagine my opponent…_ " But when she did, the first person to pop in her mind was Miyata! " _ACK! Someone way too strong!_ " She shook her head. "But, come to think of it, Miyata the only person I ever fought…" She said.

Ippoko got up and did a few jabs in the air, "Oh let me think, what are Miyata's typical moves?" But thinking back on it, all she could remember is getting beat up and strangely when she missed a jab and fell right on top of him. They were so close... Ippoko's cheeks turned bright red just at the thought of it. "Ahhh! Well that's no help at all. All I could remember is him beating me and that one time I tripped on him…" She said still red in the face. "I need to visualize his entire body." Suddenly, a bell rang, then she turned to see there was a sparring match going on.

It was Miyata and he was with another boxer, the other boxer was throwing fast punched but Miyata dodged them with ease countering with his own punches. "Whoa, Miyata is so fast." Ippoko said in amazement. "I could hardly keep up with him." Then one second later the other boxer was down. "WHOA! I didn't even see Miyata hit him that time! Just how fast is he?!" Said Ippoko, in shock. Miyata caught Ippoko staring at him, but he just turn around and left like she wasn't there. Just how is she going to beat him now?

That night, Ippoko was back home lying on the living room floor, thinking about how to envision Miyata. " _Let's see... Just how do I beat him?_ " She thought, but every time she imagined him, she always got punched square in the face. " _It's no use, even if I threw an uppercut I doubt I could graze him._ " Ippoko thought while twirling her hair. " _Come to think of it, Miyata's been boxing since he was little kid. It's impossible to compete with him three months..._ "

"Ippoko." Called out her Mom.

"Huh?"

"Why are all these leaves doing in this old magazine?" Said her mom.

Ippoko quickly rushed to her room to stop her mom from throwing away the leaves."Mom! Don't throw them away! They're my treasures!" She said, taking them away from her mom.

"What? Some old dirty leaves are your treasures?" Her Mom question.

"Mom you just don't understand." Ippoko said, looking at the ten leaves she caught all those months ago. "These leaves were just the beginning." Thinking back on it, Ippoko remembered the struggles she faced to achieve her dream of becoming a boxer. " _At that time, I almost gave up. But I stuck with it, and eventually, I succeeded. So I won't give up!_ "

The next day at the gym, Ippoko practice jump rope while watching another one of Miyata's sparring matches. " _It doesn't work if I visualize his entire body. I shouldn't bite off more than I can chew._ " She thought. " _I need to focus on his feet._ " So Ippoko focused on the movement of Miyata's feet, and how fast he was. "Ah, so sharp." Ippoko finally noticed something. But as she did, she tripped on the jump rope (Again) and started to roll away.

"What the heck is she doing?" Thought Takamura, peeking through the door.

"Let's see…" Ippoko said, as she began working on her shadowboxing. "Move forward like this, cross the feet, and jump sideways!" She said, jumping to the side. "Ahhhh! That's not right!" Ippoko shouted in frustration.

" _Heh heh, looks like it's time for me to give her some my pearls of wisdom._ " Thought Takamura, ready to drop some advice on Ippoko. But before Takamura could make it out the door, Kamogawa hooked his neck from behind with his cane.

"Hey! That really hurt old man!"

"When she starts mumbling, that means she's thinking." He said. "So leave her alone until she reaches her own conclusion."

"But she's so clumsy!" Takamura shouted. "How am I supposed sit here and wait in the wings for her!?"

"IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS, YOU SHOULD JUST PAY MORE ATTENTION TO YOUR OWN TRAINING! SO STAY OUT IT!" Kamogawa shouted back at Takamura.

And so another month went by, and the day of Ippoko's rematch drew nearer. At the gym, Ippoko was still studying Miyata's movements, how he moved, how he dodged, how he punched… Then Ippoko finally grasped it. " _I saw it. So that's how he punches. I can see it clear as day now…_ "

The next day when school let out, Ippoko was on her way to the gym, but she soon ran into Umezawa and her girls.

"Hey Ippoko, what are you in such a hurry for?" She said.

"Oh hey listen Umezawa, I'm really in a hurry right now!" Ippoko said.

"Oh really? Got a plane to catch or something? Well whoop-dee-doo. " Umezawa taunted. "Now then, you're coming with us!"

"But… I really need to go!"

"You haven't been very sociable lately, now come! You trying to make fools out of us?!" Umezawa said in a threatening way.

"I'M SORRY!" Ippoko shouted, making a break for it.

"HEY! GET BACK HERE!" Umezawa shouted as her and her friends started to chase her. "UGH, YOU IDIOTS! HOW COULD LET HER GET PAST HERE?!"

"WE'RE SORRY!"

But when Umezawa and her cronies made to the corner, Ippoko was gone.

"Man…. She sure is fast for a little girl…"

That night, Ippoko was doing some shadowboxing training. "Lean straight, move to the right, and upper!" She said to herself, imagining fighting Miyata. Some of her moves work but he was still able to hit her, knocking her down on the ground.

" _It's just his image, but Miyata is still too strong._ " She thought. But something hit her. " _Wait! I can see his shadow!_ "

Ippoko decided to go back to gym for some more training, and thought more about on how to dodge, maneuver, and hit Miyata. So she closed her eyes and took a fighting position and imagined Miyata right in front of her getting ready to fight. Ippoko thought on what he'd do first, he'd go to the right, then the left then…

"There it is!" Then like clockwork Ippoko had it, she was doing shadowboxing!

Kamogawa noticed the light on the training room. When he took a peek inside he saw Ippoko finally got shadowboxing down pat. "Even though I'm just a spectator, I can actually see this kid's opponent." He said, amazed.

" _I can see, I can see!_ " Ippoko thought with a smile. Now she could see all of Miyata's movements and when he's going to strike.

"She did it, she finally captured Miyata's shadow."

But a second later, she lost it again by jumping to the side. "Gaaaa, that's still not it!" She said in frustration.

Kamogawa couldn't help but fall out. Okay she still had a long ways to go. " _I got news for you kid, that's a good start, but capturing Miyata's shadow isn't enough. You need to block his weapon, a single deadly blow_." Kamogawa thought. Looks like Ippoko still had a long ways to go before she could fight him again.

 **End of chapter 4**

 **Next time: The Months Counting Down.**

 **Author's note: Hello everybody, Dream here! First off, I'm really really really sorry for the late update! You see, I wasn't able to do any updates because me and my family were dealing with some problems over the holidays last year. And where I live, the internet isn't so great, and another problem I'm dealing with is that the laptop I'm using has to go back to my school, updates and new fanfics might come a lot later than usual…. So, again I'm really am sorry for the late update and I will try to update and put up new fanfics as fast as I can! Anyway thanks again for reading "Love At First Punch"! Oh, and also I've been playing this app game called Love Nikki and I'm totally in love with it! And I made my own Fem! Ippo! So go check it out right here:** **albums/o766/Lucyoffairytail1017/My%20Style/27972546_807599212754061_360403868920476939_n_** **and tell me what you think. Until next time, bye-bye!**


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